As national mass shootings have come to the attention of Longwood officials, Dr. Tim Pierson, vice president of student affairs, stated Longwood has various protocols in place that ensures student safety for all levels of threats and events.
“The process that we do here is a continual effort of evaluating not only what is going on in the town of Farmville, and in central Virginia, but what is going on in the world, and in the country, and in the commonwealth,” said Longwood University Police Department (LUPD) Chief Col. Robert Beach.
There is an incident-action plan for every major event on campus, according to Beach.
“We’ve got one for hurricanes, we’ve got one for tornadoes, we’ve got one for a chemical spill, we’ve got one for active shooter. We’ve got all of those processes,” said Beach
“Every event has its own unique features to it, but we have some basic levels of protocol that we do,” said Pierson.
Pierson said that for level one emergencies, such as a thunderstorm, the campus community will be informed of general information through an email or text message. In level two emergencies, such as an armed person being sighted near campus, individuals will be urged to practice caution until the situation is handled. A level three emergency, such as an active shooter situation, requires immediate action.
Longwood depends on a network to help bring in resources Longwood may need according to Pierson. Part of this is the concurrent jurisdiction that Longwood University Police Department (LUPD) shares with Farmville Police Department (FDP). According to, the concurrent jurisdiction is a must.
“It’s a necessity out of the need for resource and the need for working together,” said Beach
First level responders are police, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and fire safety. If the situation is a dangerous chemical spill then Hazmat might be called in as well, according to Pierson.
According to Pierson, depending on the nature of the event, someone would also be communicating the next steps and who else needs to be involved.
Every new FDP officer works with the LUPD for two shifts, according to Beach.
The same works for new LUPD officers as they work with FDP for two shifts Beach said. Also twice a month officers from other areas come and have an hour tour of the campus with LUPD Beach stated.
Beach stated the LUPD officers are doing threat assessments constantly of what’s going on with the intent of deploying resources and plans on what to do if something bad happened.
Willett Hall also serves as a designated emergency shelter in the sheltering network run by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) according to Beach. This allows students from other universities to come and stay if an emergency event is happening at their university.
Beach described how the blue emergency phones on campus help students if they see something concerning. He said that the phones are not just there for emergencies but also for information or concerns. “When you push that button, the light goes on on top and it immediately connects to our communications center,” said Beach.
The LiveSafe app is another resource students can use to report suspicious activity Beach said. The app allows students to send in messages which go directly to the emails of supervisors and Beach himself so they can see what is concerning the student.
“It’s a way to chat with a dispatch and pass on information,” said Beach.
As for the possibility of an emergency event happening, Beach stated that Longwood is prepared. “I am as confident that we are as prepared as we possibly can be,” Beach said.