The University sent out two emergency text messages Sept. 9 warning the campus community about an armed suspect on Dalrymple Drive with a 98 percent success rate, according to University IT officials.
The first message gave the man’s location and cautioned people to stay out of the area. Within the hour, a second message gave the all-clear as the suspect was taken into custody.
The messages were sent to more than 33,000 people, said John Borne, Chief IT Security and Policy officer and member of  the Emergency Operations Center Core Committee.
Borne said the first message was received in less than a minute, and the majority were received in less than 10 minutes.
These messages were reassuring to one student who witnessed the incident last spring when a student drove his car into the Quad.
Joe Rhodes, communication studies graduate instructor, said he saw the entire event last semester and felt police should have sent out a text message.
“All the students I talked to seemed to agree that the system failed that day,” Rhodes said. “The response time was slow, and a text message should have been sent out.”
But Rhodes said he was pleased with how the University handled the situation two weeks ago.
“I feel more informed, like my safety is in my own hands,” he said.
According to Sgt. Blake Tabor, LSU Police Department spokesman, the criteria for sending out an emergency text message are selective.
“We send emergency text messages when we need an immediate response from students, staff and faculty,” Tabor said.
Tabor said incidents that pose danger to the campus community, including natural disasters, are reasons to release a text message.
“The last thing we want to do is send out a text for every single thing that happens,” he said.
If messages are sent too often, Tabor said it might produce a “cry-wolf” effect.
“It takes the importance away,” he said. “When we send a message, we need them to understand we need an immediate response and there is a presence of danger.”
Tabor said no text message would have been necessary for the Dalrymple standoff if police officers had contacted the armed man and if he had cooperated.
“Upon locating the suspect’s vehicle, the subject became aggressive,” Tabor said. “It became apparent it was a potentially volatile situation.”
Tabor said the policy hasn’t changed since the infamous Quad incident.
“The situation in the Quad was a very unique incident,” he said. “Information was never relayed to us that there was any potential student harm. We had no reason to believe he was trying to hurt anyone.”
Before a text message can be released, it must be approved by the LSUPD Chief of Police and D’Ann Morris, interim director of the EOC.
“It’s very systematic, so we don’t waste time,” Morris said. “It’s systematic, not bureaucratic.”
Rhodes said the two-person approval policy is irresponsible in situations that require immediate action.
“There is no reason for two people to have to deliberate over that,” he said. “That is a huge waste of time.”
Morris said about two minutes passed from the time it took Calcasieu law enforcement officials to contact LSUPD about the suspect until the text message was approved and sent out.
All parties involved had the necessary amount of information regarding the incident, so the process was executed fairly quickly, Morris said.
Accurate information is the most important factor, Morris said.
“We are going to use the system when we feel it is appropriate,” she said. “We don’t want emergency text messages to become what broadcast e-mails have become — where the majority of students don’t read them.”
Rhodes said police should be less stringent about the text messages.
“I don’t care if there is a real threat or not — I want to know about it,” he said. “We as individuals are responsible for our own decisions. I want to be able to make that decision.”
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Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]