Questions raised about Virginia Tech security

Was plan in place and practiced?
Security experts not connected with Virginia Tech said their immediate questions focused on whether the university had adopted and practiced a plan to handle such dire crises, and whether its system of emergency communications was state-of-the-art.

"It is critical for them to have solid emergency plans in place to deal with crisis situations," said Kenneth Trump of National School and Safety Services in Cleveland. "The key is to have a solid communications component in place to deal with notifying students, parents, faculty, staff and the media whets going on."

"The most critical element that falls apart in any type of emergency, especially at educational institutions, is often communications," Trump said.

Michael Dorn of Safe Havens International in Macon, Ga., which has advised many universities on security measures, said campus emergency plans can be ineffective unless staff and students are trained on how to cooperate.

"They can make the difference between one or two people being victimized and larger numbers," Dorn said. "But it's a lot harder to do that in higher education that in a K-12 school. A lot of higher ed officials don't have the basic things in place that our K-12 schools have."

It was second time in less than a year that the Virginia Tech campus was closed because of a shooting.

Last August, the opening day of classes was canceled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the Tech area. A sheriff's deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on a trail just off campus. The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.

As for other crime on campus, Virginia Tech reported just eight arrests for illegal weapons possession from 2003-05, according to statistics posted by the U.S. Department of Education.

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