PEORIA, Ill. – The last few weeks have seen some incidents of shootings and other violent crimes being reported on college campuses across the country.
How local institutions of higher learning deal with such things has changed in the last decade.
Illinois State University Police Chief Aaron Woodruff tells 25 News his department always seeks feedback from instructors about potential at-risk students, and how they can be helped.
“If we see behaviors of concern in individuals, reporting those concerns to somebody and getting those individuals help to get them off that pathway to violence,” said Woodruff.
Woodruff admits violence prevention has been missed in the past.
At Bradley University, police there say they work with first-year students to adapt them to learning in an urban environment, and they have increased patrols.
Both schools have some facilities where access is controlled using identification cards.
And both have apps and campus phones for students who don’t feel safe.
“We’ve leveraged a ton of that type of technology. We’ve added things like turnstiles in some of our high frequent buildings,” Brian Joschko, Bradley University Police Chief, told 25 News, “so that we have a one-for-one ratio where someone swipes in, and that one singular person gets entry in.”
Both schools have placed emergency guides online for students.
CLICK HERE for Bradley University’s emergency information.
CLICK HERE for Illinois State University’s emergency information.
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