We are all familiar with the headlines concerning shootings taking place on college campuses across our country. Unfortunately, they are becoming a frequent event. As scary as they may seem on the news, most of us tend to think because we live in a small quiet town, that these events won’t touch our lives.

On Feb 8th of 2016, students at the Superstition Mountain Campus were told to stay in their classrooms because the Apache Junction Police were looking for an armed fugitive on campus. The situation was quickly resolved. Although the credibility of the incident was reported to be in question, the situation was handled with skill and professionalism. Interim Academic Dean Dr. Jeffery Bunkelmann said, “Apache Junction Police responded very well.”
This is a good example that although we live in a small community, we are not immune to these types of events occurring on our campuses. The security of our campuses is a very serious matter.

Each campus has active “Alertus” boxes located in most classrooms or nearby areas to help inform teachers and students of situations which are occurring. These alert boxes are active and hardwired into the building. In the event of an emergency the boxes will display a text notice and voice instructions.

Recently, the new RAVEAlert system has been activated. Major universities have these systems and they have proven to be very effective in warning people of events on or near campus. Students may opt in to the program to receive alerts via text message on their phone. In the event of an emergency, police will activate the service to inform those who opt in for the service.

The Alertus and Rave systems act in the same way. Rave is the mobile version of the Alertus system. The advantage of both systems is that they are activated by campus. For example, in the event of an emergency on San Tan Campus, students from the other campuses will not be notified unless they are involved with that campus.

Students attending classes on campus are encouraged to visit the CAC website. On the ‘About Central’ tab on the home page, is a drop-down menu that has a campus police area. The list of campus police services is in this area. Some of these include information on emergency procedures, crime prevention programs, and information about safety training.

The campus police department works with other law enforcement agencies and emergency services for training and to provide a high quality of service for emergency situations. Evacuation drills and staff training are performed regularly.

The CACPD is committed to involving the community in solving crime problems through community policing practices and keeping the community educated as to safe practices to protect yourself and your property.

Students are encouraged to learn about the campus police services. CAC administration is committed to the safety and security of all the student and faculty. If there are any questions about campus security, please call 520-836-9655.