Boston University Police Department officials have stepped up regular campus patrols in ‘high-risk’ campus areas and at large public events, after the United States Department of Homeland Security issued high-level terror alerts last week and over the weekend, BUPD officials said last week.
While BUPD officials are taking the latest federal warnings seriously, the newest alerts do not change much for the department or for other campus security officials, according to BUPD captain Robert Malloy. The department is keeping to high levels of communication with federal officials established after Sept. 11, he said.
Malloy said BU officials updated the university’s emergency plans after Sept. 11 and have kept in regular contact with the FBI since then. Federal officials give BUPD some detail when terror alerts are issued, Malloy said, but no law enforcement officials know absolute specifics.
‘We step up patrols in areas we might consider high risk, like public places where there might be special events going on,’ Malloy said. ‘We increase security at all large residence halls and ask officers to be especially vigilant in those areas.’
Malloy said campus residents are the key to campus security because BUPD officers cannot see all threats. BUPD officials regularly go to Residence Hall Administration and Resident Assistant meetings and communicate with campus RAs on a regular basis, Malloy said.
‘We really need the assistance of the public in a lot of things that go on around the university,’ Malloy said. ‘We can’t emphasize enough that the public has to contact us when they see suspicious activity.’
University officials have discussed issuing a letter telling students about safety precautions BU is taking, but have not yet done so, Malloy said.
FBI officials have pinpointed colleges and universities as sites with especially high potential for terrorist activity, Malloy said, both because of the high concentration of people in university buildings and the large number of international students, especially at schools like BU. He said the department has an officer communicating with FBI officials on a regular basis.
Malloy said BUPD is more prepared than many university police departments because BU is situated in an urban setting. Officers are constantly trained and the department’s emergency response time is short because the department has to be prepared for the dangers posed by a large city setting, he said.
Several BU students said the latest federal terror alerts are not changing their lives significantly. Though federal officials have advised people to buy extra basic supplies, BU students said they are not planning to do so.
College of General Studies sophomore Sonia Anandraj said while she has followed the news and been aware of the Homeland Security Department’s heightened security alert, she is not changing her daily routine because of it.
‘I’m aware of it, and that’s fine, but I don’t think it’s running my everyday life,’ Anandraj said. ‘I’m not worried I mean, I’m not going to live my life in fear.’
College of Arts and Sciences junior Mike Harvey said his father called to make sure he was prepared for an attack after hearing of the increased terror alert last week. Harvey said he ‘cannot afford a gas mask, so whatever happens happens.’
MORE ABROAD WARNINGS
BU Study Abroad officials issued new warnings to BU’s program in London Friday, after British officials increased patrols near Heathrow Airport, one of the country’s main international airports, and numerous other locations nationwide.
Students on the program said professors read them specific program emergency plans during their first classes Friday morning and program participants also received a letter from BU’s director of British Programs Friday, reiterating the need for caution and awareness.
Jeremy Hobson, a junior in the College of Communication studying in London, said the warnings have caused students there to think more about their safety. Hobson said he has discussed the prospect of a terrorist attack with most of his close friends over the past week.
‘We’re in a city that is foreign to us and there is no way for us to get out of town in case of an attack,’ Hobson said. ‘With all of these warnings here, it’s pretty scary. I think a lot of people are worried about it.’