This web page seeks to address the most common questions and concerns that the campus community has voiced during potential active shooter situations. In reviewing this information please keep in mind that, the campus’s recommended best practices guidance is that you always exercise your own best judgment regarding how these suggested responses should apply to you and your particular individual situation.
Questions regarding emergency terms
Q: What does Shelter in Place mean in the context of a campus emergency situation?
You may be asked to shelter in place rather than evacuate in situations involving hazardous material releases or serious weather emergencies. Stay inside your building. If working outside, go inside as quickly as possible. Close all windows and vents. Gather emergency supplies such as flashlights and water. Monitor university WarnMe alerts. In instances where you are uncertain what to do or where to go, use your best judgment given your specific situation.
Q: What does "Lockdown" mean?
A lockdown may be instructed during situations such as the presence of a hostile or armed intruder inside a building. A lockdown requires locking doors and windows, and barricading oneself to block entry to a campus facility, a classroom, or to an office suite. Turn off the lights. Instruct everyone to remain silent and not go into hallways. If you are in hallways, you should seek shelter in the nearest classroom or office. If you are outdoors, you should immediately take cover. Monitor university WarnMe alerts. In instances where you are uncertain what to do or where to go, use your best judgment given your specific situation.
Q: What is a “credible threat”?
In a potential active shooter situation, police evaluate a number of factors in assessing a credible threat, including assessed emotional state, pattern of behavior, and any documented access to weapons. In other emergency situations, such as a bomb threat, police evaluate factors including the location of the caller and specificity of the threat.
Questions regarding lockdown situations
Q: If a WarnMe instruction says to remain in the building, may I go to the bathroom down the hall or elsewhere in my building?
In all emergency situations, you should always use your best judgment. Consider what is occurring in your immediate area and use your best judgment. Campus officials offer general instructions but are not able to assess every potential scenario or the level of potential threats in all parts of the campus.
Q: Should I open the door for an individual who is asking to be let into my building?
Use your best judgment. Campus officials offer general instructions but are not able to assess every potential scenario or the level of potential threats in all parts of the campus.
Q: It has been hours and I have been without food or water, may I leave? What if I have medication that I need to access? What if I am just tired of waiting and wish to leave?
In all emergency situations, you are empowered to use your best judgment. Consider what is occurring in your immediate area and use your best judgment. Campus officials offer general instructions but are not able to assess every potential scenario or the level of potential threats in all parts of the campus.
If you would like assistance to create a plan to address emergency requirements and you have a disability, you can receive assistance with this from Disability, Access, and Compliance by completing a form on their webpage. You can also reach out to them if you have any other questions or requirements that may need to be considered.
Be aware that campus dining facilities, for example, will not be able to serve you during an emergency such as a lockdown. The campus will communicate to students when and where student services such as food service are able to resume. It is our priority to serve students with food and drink once it is again safe to do so.
Questions regarding WarnMe messages
Q: Why are there so many WarnMe messages, even when there is nothing new in the messages?
UC Berkeley strives to balance speed and accuracy when releasing campus safety alerts. The goal is to ensure that individuals are aware of the situation and they know the steps to take to safeguard their personal safety. Follow up notifications may be released if there is new information or instructions for the university population, such as changes in protective actions. Messages may also be sent at appropriate intervals to reiterate the current state of the emergency, especially if significant time has passed since the last update. An all-clear notification will be sent at the conclusion of an event when/if it is helpful to provide an all-clear message.
Q: Why isn’t there more information in the messages? I am not clear on what exactly is going on?
During an emergency situation, our first concern in any communication is to inform the campus that there is an emergency and what steps they should take to remain safe.
We understand the desire to know the nature of the emergency, of the threat. Such detail can help inform our actions and help to keep us safe. However, campus leaders may need to hold back information as part of the police investigation. Release of certain specifics may interfere with police efforts to find and talk to an individual who has made threats.
Q: Why is the campus not sharing the location of the threat?
The campus may not identify a specific section of the campus as the area of concern because the situation may be unclear or evolving and we do not want to provide false assurances that only one part of campus might be in harm’s way. We may have conflicting information about whether an individual in question is on campus, off campus, etc., and consequently, our actions will be guided by community safety.
Q: Social media seems to have much more detail about what is happening. Why isn’t the campus providing that information to us via WarnMe, its social media accounts, or other platforms?
The campus seeks to provide the most important and most accurate information available that is needed for campus safety. We will not rush to share information that is not verified and, when dealing with a police matter, certain information may need to be held until the matter has been resolved.
Also, be aware that information you may see on social media platforms may not always be accurate. We advise paying attention to official campus communications, which may come via email, text, or through staff members.
Questions regarding campus location and movement instructions
Q: I work in the campus office on Fourth Street (or on the Hill campus or office in downtown Berkeley), how do I know if the lockdown instructions apply to my location?
In instances where the campus messaging is unclear, use your best judgment based on your location, what you know about the emergency, and the conditions occurring in that moment at your location.
Q: When you instruct the campus to leave the area and go home, to get as far away as possible, what does that mean to students who live in residential halls?
Generally, unless specifically instructed otherwise, students should return to their residence hall room. However, as is true in all instances, use your best judgment based on your knowledge of your specific situation and what is occurring around you.
Q: If I’m eating in a campus dining hall or similar facility, what am I expected to do in the event of a shelter-in-place or lockdown situation?
Campus dining facilities will not be able to continue serving you during an emergency such as a lockdown or a shelter in place. The campus will communicate to students when and where student services such as food service are able to resume. It is our priority to serve students with food and drink once it is again safe to do so.
If you are in a dining facility when a lockdown is called for, pay attention to instructions from WarnMe alerts and/or dining hall staff. You may, for example, need to stay in the dining hall during a lockdown for safety reasons. Only leave (and, for example, return to your residential hall) if you’ve been given the clearance to do so.
In some instances, students may be directed to leave the campus and “go home” - in which case for those students who live in residential halls, you should quickly return to your residential hall room. If one lives off-campus, one should leave the campus as directed.
Q: I live in student housing at University Village in Albany (“UVA”), or Intersection housing in Emeryville, etc. How do I know if it’s safe for me to come to campus?
Be sure to pay attention to email and text alerts you will receive from the campus. If they advise all to stay away from the campus until given the all-clear, this includes students and families at UVA, Intersection, and any other housing located away from the central campus. In these cases, do not attempt to come to campus until given a proactive “all-clear” (typically via email or text) from the campus.
Questions regarding police presence
Q: I am concerned about the police presence related to the unfolding threat, what can be done to lessen the triggering presence?
When campus safety is an issue we always will have police respond first. UCPD considers what is appropriate at any given time – and this may include the use of plain-clothed officers or more of a uniformed police presence. In situations involving a heightened alert and anxiety, UCPD may choose to have more uniformed officers out on campus so that there is more of a visible presence to deter an individual who may cause harm from taking harmful action on staff and students leaving their offices. It is a balancing of safety needs and concerns, as the campus is aware that the presence of uniformed officers can provoke concern for various members of our campus community.
We know that some of you are wondering about alternatives to a police response for mental health crisis intervention. A new mobile crisis team has begun operating and in cases (where violence is not occurring) these mental health professionals will be the first to respond along with UCPD, working in collaboration.
When fully implemented, a team of at least six (6) UHS professionals (including both mental health crisis counselors and paramedics) and trained peer support workers from a new multicultural peer workforce will be available to provide on-location mobile crisis response. The decision of when to involve police will initially be made by the mental health dispatch operator. If it is clear at that point that public safety is at risk, the mental health dispatch counselor will connect with UCPD dispatch to request police to accompany the mental health team, but even in this case, the first approach will, when indicated, be made by the mental health team. Police would be available, at a brief distance, to intervene as needed.
However, to be clear, in cases involving an active shooter, there is no alternative to police presence.
Questions regarding classrooms, teaching, and safety
Q: What are some basic protocols that an instructor should follow when an SIP or lockdown alert occurs during class?
Lockdown and barricade, and prepare to counter or escape if the armed intruder enters your classroom. Monitor WarnMe and await further instructions.
Q: For those of us teaching in buildings that lock from the outside, not from inside the classroom, what are we expected to do for safety in an active shooter situation?
Lockdown and barricade doors with furniture, and prepare to counter or escape if the armed intruder enters your classroom. Monitor WarnMe and await further instructions.