Brown has a warning system which they test once or twice a year. During these tests, there is a siren loud enough to hear in the area surrounding campus and an announcement that it’s a test. Why didn’t Brown’s safety director activate those systems on December 13 and inform neighbors that there was an active shooter on the loose?
The explanation given by Brown President Christina Paxson at a press conference after the tragedy was that the system, which is set up expressly for this situation among other emergencies, would not be used because of a fear that students would run to shelter in the building where the shooting occurred. I call BS!
First of all, the students were alerted on their phones about the shooting. I live at the edge of campus and learned from a text from a friend. Of course, I texted my neighbors but many others still had no idea hours later that there was a shooting and a “shelter in place” order.
Again, there is a speaker attached to Brown’s warning system. If the possibility of people running to campus to shelter in the building was a real concern they could have announced it following the alarm. It’s hard to believe that anyone would have run into a building surrounded by police! And maybe we could have all been vigilant to look for anyone calmly walking the sidewalks after a shelter in place order was announced.
Thankfully, as far as we know, no one else was hurt because of this poor decision. But I think Brown has a lot to answer to.
Lee Kossin is an artist who lives half a block from the edge of the Brown campus and appreciates all that they do for quality of life in Providence.
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