When Washington University sent out an emergency notification last Wednesday that a person with a weapon was near North Campus, it became clear that the University has an effective, albeit obnoxious, system to inform people on our campus of an emergency. However, another—and maybe more significant element—was made clear: although we got the memo, a majority of us did not know how to respond.

The emergency notification protocol the University uses to inform students, faculty and staff of emergencies on campus is extremely effective. The redundancy in the notification system—for instance through the use of emails, text messages, push notifications on the WUSTL app and phone calls—is beneficial. Sure, it might be annoying, but in a real emergency, the University has an obligation to make absolutely certain that everyone on campus knows. However, it’s not enough to just let people know there’s an emergency going on.

At present, no students or faculty on campus are required to undergo any formal emergency training. While it’s unlikely that such an emergency would ever happen, we still need to be prepared.

Washington University Police Department Acting Chief of Police Lieutenant Mark Glenn has adapted the “Run, Hide, Fight” active shooter training to work specifically for the Wash. U. campus, but there is no system in place to ensure all faculty members are trained. This training is essential because professors and adults are the people we students look to in these situations. It becomes clear—when a professor’s best reaction to Wednesday’s email is to move her students from their Simon Hall classroom to the BSBA lounge because it locks, despite WUPD’s ability to lock the entire building—that there’s a gap in knowledge and a necessity for it to be filled.

These trainings need to be mandatory for faculty members, but also made more accessible to students. Glenn said that trainings have been offered—and scheduled specifically for times in which they would be accessible to more people—but the student body for the most part doesn’t even know they exist.

Formal training aside, WUPD also includes some tips on how to proceed given an emergency situation in its email alerts. The notification protocol has four different types of alerts—emergency notifications (the most extreme type of alert and the one sent out Wednesday), crime alerts, security memos and informational bulletins.

Crime alerts, security memos and informational bulletins have included some general hints and precautions, but Wednesday’s emergency notification encouraged people to “go to a place the you feel safe and remain there until further notice.” In the most uncertain of situations, the email that came out had little to no useful information. Without pertinent information, what a “safe place” might be could change. Not only was it vague, but students and faculty were not updated on the developing situation until the all clear.

As more information is discovered, WUPD should be sending live updates and alerts so people can stay informed. As a more clear location and details—in this instance, the type of weapon—become available, updates can be sent through the same means of communication.

For notifications other than emergency notifications, WUPD takes a two-pronged approach. At times, they will release the alert to the entire Wash. U. community and at other times only to the people in that residential area. While we understand the desire to not inundate students with this type of information, it’s important for everyone to know of potentially dangerous circumstances. Just because one doesn’t live in a particular area doesn’t mean that they don’t frequent it.

Take the recent Delmar Loop carjackings as an example. Many students who live on the South 40 find themselves at the Loop often, yet they may not been informed of the recent crime, which is a problem.

Even if WUPD decides to keep its primarily location-based approach, there still isn’t one place where all the incidents are archived. Our editorial board scoured the police.wustl.edu and emergency.wustl.edu websites and could not find a record of all the announcements, which should be in an easily accessible place.

We don’t doubt that the safety of the Wash. U. community is of utmost importance to the administration and WUPD, and we respect their openness in receiving feedback after emergencies on campus happen. Still, we urge them to take the steps to ensure a more informed community in the event that any sort of emergency may occur.