Crisis Management

Running head: CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Crisis Management

Alfonse Javed

Liberty University
 Crisis Management

Crisis Management

Crises do not come by permission, no knocking on the

door. However, crises are led by few un-checked, and

unlocked doors, and once these crises step in any

organization, it takes them a lot less time to devastate

the entire organization. Whole structures can come down to

earth in a moment if the organization has lack of

management plan or sufficient facilities and resources to

deal with such situation.

Violent deaths at school have been the focus of a

great deal of recent media attention particularly in the

form of school shootings. Sadly, these tragic events affect

not only those involved, but also many others in the school

and community. Violence is a serious problem in human

society; every day we hear or read about incidents

involving violence and cruelty, and undoubtedly thousands

more go unreported. Virginia Tech incident was one of those

sad incidents, which everyone prays may never happen again.

April 16th, 2007 was a challenging day for both Virginia

Tech and American Nation including entire civilized world.

President of The University of Louisvillie, James R. Ramsey

issued a statement about V-Tech stating that the University

of Louisville was stunned and saddened by the events of

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that day at Virginia Tech University. He said that his

deepest sympathy goes out to the victims, their families

and the entire Virginia Tech community. While there was not

any reason to expect a similar occurrence at Uof L, it was

encouraged that all the students and employees should

review our emergency procedures. In addition they will

review their procedures to ensure that they are doing their

best to protect the students and employees. An incident

like this one, touches us all. Please keep the Virginia

Tech community in your thoughts and prayers as they

struggle to cope with this tragedy.

The terrible event that happened at Virginia Tech has

shocked the foundation of every school, college and

university and led the administrators to believe that

university campuses are not immune from the threats of

violence that exist in our broader society. This incident

has forced the school policies to be re-thought and focus

on both prevention and response, and hard work to apply the

lessons of the V-Tech incident.

Virginia Tech University has more than 25,000 full-time

students on a campus and is spread over 2,600 acres. This

American University is one of the best universities in the

world. Therefore, it has been demanded that such university

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should maintain all security procedures, and emergency

procedures.

Witnesses, who described the scenes of mass chaos and

unimaginable horror, stated that they were shocked and

horrified to see some students lined up against a wall and

shot. Others jumped out of windows to escape, or crouched

on the floors to take cover. The first attack started as

students were getting ready for classes or were on their

way there. The university did not evacuate the campus or

notify students of that attack until several hours later.

Which resulted to the death of thirty two innocent people.

The killings occurred in two separate attacks on the campus

in Blacksburg, Va. The first was at around 7:15 a.m., when

two people were shot and killed in a dormitory. More than

two and a half hours later, 31 others, including the

gunman, were shot and killed across campus, in a classroom

building, where some of the doors had been chained shut.

Victims were, found in different locations around the

building.

Investigation revealed that the gunman Cho had a

mental illness. In summer, 2006 Cho’s mother was very

concerned about his inattention to class work, his time

spent out of the classroom and his antisocial behavior; she

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took him to various churches throughout the Northern

Virginia community. She thought that he might have autism,

but no autism diagnosis could be verified with Cho’s

parents, and no evidence has surfaced to indicate such a

diagnosis was used by U. S. school authorities. On December

13,2005, Cho was found “mentally ill and in need of

hospitalization” by New River Valley Community Services

Board. Virginia Special Justice Paul Barnett certified an

order that Cho was “an imminent danger to himself as a

result of mental illness,” but instead recommended

treatment for Cho as an outpatient. On December 14, 2005.

Cho, was released from mental health facility after Judge

Barnet ordered Cho to under go mental health treatment on

an outpatient basis. Since Cho underwent only a minimal

psychiatric assessment, the true diagnosis for Cho’s mental

health status remains unknown.

Regarding Cho’s behavior issues, his professor Nikki

Giovanni describes Cho’s writing as “intimidating”. she

insisted that Cho be removed from her class in 2005.

Lucinda Roy head of the department removed him from her

class and also alerted student affairs, the dean’s office,

and the campus police, but each said there was nothing they

could do if Cho had made no overt threats against himself

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or others. Roy urged Cho to seek counseling, but he never

followed through with the request to her knowledge.

In this scenario as it is given to review and come

with solution. The interesting thing, that has arisen, is

the resemblance of the story with those incidents which

changed the entire security, and crisis plan of every

institution.

Somehow, it is always the same, how people who attempt

to murder or murder someone are so sure about their

conviction that what they are doing is the right thing to

do. Most of the time, it is a psychological problem. Even

hatred toward some one or a group of people is a kind of

psychological problem because it leads to revenge and

revenge stimulates inhuman action. The Psychological

problem can be a minor one which may not be diagnosed on

early stages but later it may become developed over the

period of time and eventually take over the person. It

paralyses the mind and ability to choose the right thing.

It enforces the person to attempt such inhuman acts of

violence. It can be called “mantle sickness”. In the

scenario, when it was analyzed, the problem was very clear.

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It is a psychological problem, where the person considers

that what he or she is doing, is the right thing to do. It

is also interesting to see how this guy who wants to kill

the complainer, is convinced by self created imaginary that

the girl still loves him. It is reported that “He knows

that this girl really likes him but won’t hurt my feels and

break up.”

The situation is very dangerous, the seriousness of

the situation can be notice by the visibility of the

somewhat shaken student. The character of the guy, who has

been threatening is well known and seen by the complainer.

The complainer is sure about the information and the

reality behind the information and this can be seen by what

he said “This guy is a real bad character and has been in

fights in and around school. He even gets in trouble in

class and threatens students in class. He is crazy enough

that I think he meant really shoot me.” The involvement of

the girl’s love has resemblance with the Virginia Tech

case. The investigation revealed that Cho the gunman had a

imaginary girlfriend. Secondly, he had hatred towards rich

people.

This scenario has four main phases, first the threat,

second the weapon that is involved and third the murder of

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the student. Fourth, the threat that he is going to kill

him self. In the first phase and in this particular

scenario it is wise to start from the formal investigation.

It can be done in three ways. First, the administrator can

investigate personally. Second, the administrator could

call the security director, inform him about the situation,

and let him do the investigations if the statement is true

or false. Third, appoint a special team or individual to do

the investigations. During investigation four people should

be involved. First, the classmate who reported the

incident. Second, the person whom this report was about

(the gunman), and third, the girl and forth the family of

each one of them, if it is proven the report was correct.

Every school has its own crises management plan, since

the scenario is too serious to take lightly. The

administrator should be involved immediately. Complete the

primary investigation. If there is, need to involve the

security officer keep him in the loop from the beginning.

Try to discover if the report was true, call the classmate

and find out when, was he told that the gunman was going to

kill the complainer. What was the tone, gestures, attitude

and body language? If it is clear from the interview that

the classmate’s intentions were good and he just told what

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he heard directly from the gunman then without wasting

anymore time, he should call the parents of this guy and

inform them about the situation. Then he should put the

student under counseling, or temporary behavior check. If

he is not agreeing to see a counselor or psychologist then

without taking any further risks suspend him, and report

the security to watch out for this student.

Second stage of the scenario talks about the weapons.

The possession or use of a firearm on campus is strictly

forbidden. Any one violating the policy is subject to

arrest under ARS 13-2911 and/or subject to applicable

college disciplinary procedures. Members of the college

provided with safety presentations during class

orientations. They are also available to talk to any

department or groups of students. The orientations and

talks are, designed to educate members of the college

community about the services provided by the college and

how to avoid becoming the victim of a crime at the college.

The personal possession of firearms in all campus

buildings and on all campus property is, strictly

prohibited. This prohibition applies to all students,

employees, independent contractors, and visitors, including

those who have a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon.

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Individuals who possess a valid permit to carry a firearm

may however, keep it locked in the trunk or glove

compartment their vehicle in a campus parking lot. This

prohibition does not apply to authorized security or law

enforcement personnel. Individuals wishing to store

firearms and ammunition at college can do so by bringing

them to the Office of Safety and Security.

Except under circumstances noted above, students and

employees are, prohibited from using, storing or possessing

weapons, fireworks or explosives on property owned or

controlled by the College and/or in the course of any

College program or employment. Weapons may include, but are

not limited to,: firearms, pellet guns, air rifles or BB

guns, paintball guns, bows and arrows, sling shots, water

balloon launchers, martial arts equipment, swords,

switchblade and large knives, and clubs.

Therefore, according to the security policies and on

the base of orientation, which, was provided to the student

body. It seems that the gunman who was carrying the weapon,

should be well aware about the consequences. It is strongly

recommended to call the security and let the policy know

about him that they may arrest him. However, it is very

important to secure the building and vacuum it. If this

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part is, properly handled, and the police are informed and

have taken charge then there is no further need to do

anything with the person who is accused of such crime.

However, counseling is needed for both the girlfriend

and the boy who were threatened by the gunman.

Now for the third stage, when the gunman kills the

student and escapes. The most important thing is to protect

the rest of community from such a person. The college

should be vacuumed carefully, the police should be involved

throughout the process, and both the college community and

the public should be informed through the proper source of

media. The following are the some of the important points

to be considered in such a situation.

1. Make the school building secure.

2. Provide counseling for students and teachers.

3. Choose a spokesperson to deal with media.

4. Give the dead body the proper respect; that is, the

school should help the family members organize a

funeral ceremony.

5. The girl who was involved in this scenario should be

provided proper police protection and professional

counseling.
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Like V-Tech there are chances of mistakes. But to

minimize risk it is imperative to close all possible

gapes that might allow the gunman to kill himself or

others. For instance, in Cho’s case (who was the killer

in V-Tech), it should be reported to the school and state

properly that he has mental illness; further, that he has

a tendency to suicide. How was he able to get a gun when

state law says no mentally sick person can buy any

firearms? Perhaps it would be a different situation if

his record of mental illness had been taken into

consideration seriously. If it would have been available

and the shopkeeper would have known of his illness,

perhaps he would not have sold him a firearm.

The following are a few suggestions to prevent the

schools from such horrible and painful incidents.

1. All education institutions should develop a screening

process but make sure it remains private and is not

used for discrimination.

2. All education institutions should have outside and

inside security procedures. Outside means, the

security department should have immediate access to

all emergency services. Inside means, there should be

a student-to-student accountability process so that

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students can report problems and concerns about their

fellow students to administrators. It can be done in

several ways. The first way is by groups. Divide the

students into small groups and appoint a group leader

either from students or from staff. Secondly, develop

a buddy system so that the students can hold each

other accountable.

3. Behavior reports should be considered very important

for both admission in the school and while students

are going to school. The behavior reports from

teachers and from parents would help administration to

determine whether a student has any emotional,

physical, or educational issue. It would also help the

administration to evaluate the student’s character and

behavior, to determine whether he or she is a threat

to the school or community.

4. Regular monthly mandatory appointments with school

counselors or psychologists to evaluate their behavior

would be very helpful to track down those who might be

harmful to the students and community. This service

should be provided by the school so that the student

does not feel obligated to pay for such things (since

it is for the school’s safety).

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5. Limited numbers of students in each class, department,

and building will help to identify the person who is

not behaving properly.

6. Multiple exits for each class room. In this era where

valance is so common it is necessarily important to

change the structure of buildings. Make enough room in

the building that the emergency services can easily

access all class rooms. This way they can easily

locate the troublemaker without harming other

students. The best example is the World Trade Center.

The structure was one of the main reasons that

emergency services could not do a lot to save people.

Also, terrorists used the structure to plan their evil

action. That is true in the case of V-tech as well.

If the building structure was a little different

perhaps it would have saved a few more students from

dying and getting injured.

7. No matter how good a crisis management plan is, it is

very important to take everything seriously. There is

no room for a mistake when it is matter of death and

life. It is sad how the director of security responded

to the first shooting. It would have been a very

different situation if the classes had been cancelled

or the university had been shut down. Chief Flinchum

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the head of security at V-Tech said that initially

officials thought that the shooting was “domestic,”

suggesting that it was between individuals who knew

each other, and isolated to the dormitory. He said the

campus was not shut down after the first shooting

because authorities thought that the attacker may have

left the campus, or even the state. “We knew we had

two people shot,” he said. “We secured the building.

We secured the crime scene.” He later added: “We acted

on the best information we had at the time.” It is

important to uncover the true situation. Even, if it

is just only gun display still it is threatening.

8. It is also important to put some kind of lights or

alarms to inform the students about the situation. One

of the best things is to train students about what to

do in such situation.
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References

Witness survives by pretending to be dead. Retrieved June-

10, 2007, from

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

The New York Times. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from

http://www.nytimes.com

Virginia Tech. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from

http://www.vt.edu/campus alert.php

Virginia tech messacre. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia Tech messacre

Daily Orange. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from

http://media.www.dailyorange.com/deia/storage/paper5

22/news/2007/04/26/News/Virgina.Tech.In.Case.Of.Emer

gency.Vt.Tragedy.Spurs.Analysis.Of.Sus.Safety.Proc.2

881581.shtml
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SUNY the state university of new york. Retrieved June -10,

2007, from

http://www.suny.edu/sunynews/News.cfm?filname=FINALJRR

Testimony-LaValleHearingCampusSafety.htm