Jacqueline Wallace/The Rider Photo
Omar E. Zapata | THE RIDER
The UTRGV police chief says the pandemic made the department stop its yearly active-shooter exercises but not its preparations.
The Gun Violence Archive, a non- profit organization that keeps track of gun-related violence in the United States, reported, as of last Thursday, 157 mass shootings had occurred since Jan. 1. The nonprofit defines a mass shooting as four or more peo- ple injured or killed, not including the perpetrator.
“It’s always a tragedy when a mass shooting happens,” University Police Chief Adan Cruz told The Rider. “It’s a shock to the community, and we feel and give condolences to the victims and the families of the victims when a mass shooting like that happens. It’s something that you never get used to. … We always got to keep that in mind that so that we don’t get numb to the idea of the effects that a mass shooting has on a community, especially on the victims and the families.”
Cruz said, unfortunately, mass shootings can happen anywhere, and no one is immune to them.
“We do conduct training and things to try to increase our preparedness,” he said. “Some of the things we do are a matter of policy. Our officers carry their weapon systems. They have their sidearms, shotguns, rifles. We qualify with those as per policy. Right now, COVID has put a damper on certain trainings, but the policies we qualify twice a year are those weapon systems.”
Jacqueline Wallace/The Rider Photo
Cruz said the last full-scale active-shooter exercise was held in December 2019 on the Brownsville campus.
“It’s an active-shooter exercise where we get role players, we set up a scenario, our officers have to respond to the scenario,’ the police chief said. “Everyone participates, from dispatch to [public safety officers] to our commissioned officers. Members of the community participate and role-play and we get our local law enforcement partners to also participate.”
He said the Texas Department of Public Safety, U.S Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, the Brownsville Police Department and Cameron County Sheriff’s Department participated in the last exercise. The yearly training happens toward the end of the calendar year and is switched between the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses.
“We simulated a response from all our local partners in that full-scale exercise, and that’s what that does,” Cruz said. “We do it in conjunction with our administration and emergency management.”
He said University Police conducted tabletop exercises before the full-scale one and amid the pandemic.
“We gather our officers in a room [and] gather around a table,” Cruz said. “We present them with a scenario, and then they have to say what they’re going to do. And then after a few minutes of discussion to see, you know, what the situation was, then we have an insert.
“So, what an insert is, is we alter the scenario and as the exercise goes, you’re inserting problems into the situation, and you may have several inserts in one exercise. … And that’s what we did last year.”
Asked how fast University Police can respond to an active-shooter situation, he said within a matter of minutes.
“It just depends where the officer is,” Cruz said. “You know, the officer can be in the same building. It can be seconds [or] the officer could be on the west side of campus, and it’s going to take us two minutes to get there.”
He said another thing that was offered before the pandemic was civilian response to an active-shooter event, or CRASE training, in which students, staff or faculty participated.
“Because of COVID, we haven’t had those trainings, you know, in 2020, but prior to that, you could see the advertisement on the messenger that comes out every morning,” Cruz said. “And that’s what we do for the community, is we conduct those trainings. And we train them up on what the expectations are and how they would want to respond to an active-shooter event.”
He said when COVID-19 restrictions are slowly lifted, the community engagement officer will offer trainings again.
“I encourage everyone to attend one of our CRASE trainings once we start doing them,” Cruz said. “It’s good training. It teaches our community to avoid the area, hide, run and as a last resort, defend yourself.”
He said to report suspicious activity, or if something is out of place, to the campus emergency phone number at 882- 4911.
“If you see any suspicious activity in your mind, [like] an abandoned backpack that’s in a weird place … people walking around with what you see as a weapon exposed that you feel is out of place, if you see something, say something,” Cruz said.
Cruz said those who see suspicious activity, such as an abandoned backpack that is in an odd place, or someone walking around with an exposed weapon that they feel is out of place, they should say something.
He said there are campus-carry rules that everyone should abide by but that there are a lot of places that are exclusionary zones in which people cannot carry guns.
Jacqueline Wallace/The Rider Photo
Cruz said he encourages people to download the CampusShield smartphone app. The app has many functions and can alert and call University Police at the press of a button, he said.
Edgar Hernandez, a mass communication junior, told The Rider that it has been a tough year taking online classes but is excited to hopefully return to in-person classes in the fall.
Asked what his thoughts are on the number of mass shootings this year, he replied,”It’s devastating that we have to go through this stuff. … It’s just unfortunate that these things have to happen.”
Hernandez said he hopes a mass shooting does not happen in the Rio Grande Valley but that it can happen anywhere.
He said he is aware of the trainings University Police offered before the pandemic but never attended one.
“I’m not too sure how well- trained the UTRGV PD and just PD here in general are but with all this stuff happening, I’m confident in the officers and the PD that we have here,” Hernandez said.
Jacqueline Wallace/The Rider Photo
Andy Monjaras, a studio arts senior, told The Rider said he believes the number of mass shootings this year is “crazy.”
“America has always had a gun problem,” Monjaras said. “I have no idea if it’s gotten worse over the years but that sounds about right for us.”
He said he knows the university has done active-shooter drills in previous semesters but believes a lot of students do not participate in them.
Monjaras said he hopes the University Police and local police are prepared for any situation that occurs if more in-person classes are offered in the fall.
