CALEA accreditation allows public safety agencies to voluntarily meet a comprehensive set of professional standards, which include:
In 2022, GTPD’s Emergency Communications Center made history by receiving CALEA accreditation. It became the first university communications center/dispatch in the state of Georgia to achieve national accreditation. This milestone highlighted GTPD's leadership in public safety and its dedication to setting new standards of excellence.
GTPD remains committed to continuous improvement and excellence in public safety. The fourth CALEA accreditation is a testament to the department's unwavering dedication to serving and protecting the Georgia Tech community.
For more information about GTPD and its initiatives, please visit police.gatech.edu
]]>The Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) is electrifying its patrol division with three all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E GT SUVs, leading the national eco-shift among law enforcement.
The e-SUVs join an already-growing electric fleet, with the department currently using various electric alternatives.
“Having electric cars join our force is great. We already have other alternatives we utilize as vehicles to include electric golf carts, trikes, and electric bikes,” said GTPD Lt. Jessica Howard, adding that this development is one that further aligns with the Institute’s vision of sustainability.
Electrify GT, a student group helping the Institute reach its carbon reduction goals as part of Tech’s sustainability vision, researched and identified the best cost-effective electric vehicle options.
“We supported them in that endeavor with research and cost analysis, carbon accounting for what it would look like to implement electric vehicles into the patrol car fleet,” said Rohan Datta, Electrify GT president.
According to Electrify GT’s report, the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT vehicles, which offer about 250 miles on a full charge, supporting the patrolling needs for the Institute’s 3-mile radius — while reducing carbon emissions, provide up to $4,000 in fuel savings per vehicle. Apart from reducing fuel costs, they also cut maintenance costs in half — key for patrol cars, which typically sit idle for extended periods. Noise pollution reduction on campus is another benefit.
The Institute remains committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
His installation, “OSHA/ANSI No. 15: Safety Tape on Panel” (2020) is a celebration of safety through the unexpectedly colorful world of durable barricade and caution tape.
“This heavy-duty safety tape is commonly utilized as a device to demarcate zones, create order, assist in navigation, alert us to potential hazards and ultimately maintain safety,” explains Mr. Dean. “But now, through my artistic intervention and in the context of The Georgia Tech Police Campus Safety building, there is a duality of existence in which the bold colors and diagonal pattern not only function as a sign of safety but also as a work of Art.”
We encourage you to stop by the GTPD building to view the diverse panels, which create a dazzling display on the lower lobby walls. Other works by Mr. Dean in this series are in numerous private and corporate collections, as well as the Permanent Collection of the Savannah College of Art and Design.
]]>GTENS is a system used to share important information with the Georgia Tech community immediately. All students, faculty, and staff are automatically enrolled in email alerts, but are also encouraged to opt in to text and phone call alerts via passport.gatech.edu. GTENS alerts come in two forms:
GTENS Emergency! – This alert indicates an imminent threat to campus, i.e., natural disasters or an active shooter, requiring immediate action.
“These are the most prominent alerts we send out,” OEM Director William Smith said. An initial alert will instruct community members to shelter in place or evacuate, if necessary, but communication does not end at that point. During an emergency, OEM will continuously send out updated information as it becomes available. When the situation is resolved, OEM will issue a “GTENS All Clear” notification.
GTENS Inform – These alerts do not require immediate action but are meant to inform the community that the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) and OEM are monitoring a situation on or near campus. Inform messages were developed in 2023 to issue a unified and reassuring message that a situation is being actively monitored by authorities.
Should the situation escalate to become a threat to campus, a GTENS Emergency! notification will be sent out.
Clery Act Safety Alert – Issued by GTPD, this alert notifies the campus community of a crime that has taken place on or around campus. Alerts are typically issued if the perpetrator has not been apprehended. While not indicating an immediate threat to the entire campus, the alerts allow the community to stay informed and protect themselves from similar incidents, i.e., robberies or assaults.
Guardians of students who attend Georgia Tech can opt in to GTENS by texting GTPARENT to 67283.
Of the phases of emergency management — preparedness, planning, response, and recovery — the OEM team spends most of its time on preparedness and planning to ensure campus partners are ready to respond at a moment’s notice, armed with the necessary resources. OEM works directly with building managers to develop emergency response plans, known as redbooks, for each of the 236 buildings on campus.
These plans provide specific details for each building, such as lab spaces that may require additional response efforts to contain unique biohazards. All plans offer a detailed map of the building to assist with shelter, evacuation, and first responder access. Building managers and occupants can request a meeting with OEM to review policies and procedures and ask questions in a session titled Emergency Preparedness 101.
To view the redbook for any building on campus, employees can use their Georgia Tech login and search the database here. Students interested in reading the plan can contact the building manager for assistance.
Along with the building-specific plans, OEM offers general guidance and reporting procedures for emergency scenarios on campus.
All Institute emergency procedures can be found in the LiveSafe App, along with other resources like campus maps, health and well-being services, and various ways to connect with GTPD. The app allows community members to access emergency policies from anywhere on campus and message or call GTPD. Messages can include photos, videos, and audio, along with a written message, which can be sent anonymously.
OEM highly recommends familiarizing yourself with the campus and surrounding area so that, in case of an emergency, you can provide as much information as possible.
In the case of severe weather, safety concerns, or other interruptions to campus operations, a GTENS Inform message may alert the community to a shift to modified operations and/or digital learning.
Modified Operations: The modified operations policy refers to “temporary changes to Georgia Tech teaching, learning, research, and business operations in response to a threat of an emergency, ongoing emergency, or any other interruption that requires Institute-level action. In extreme cases, modified operations can include up to the cancellation or temporary suspension of all in-person and digital instruction.”
Digital Learning Days: For courses typically taught in person, a digital learning day is a day of instruction leveraging online delivery (either synchronous or asynchronous) due to the modification of campus operations.
The weather is often the cause of a shift in campus operations. When forecasts indicate potential impact to campus, OEM begins sending situational awareness emails to units to indicate how they may be affected and narrow the scope of the information shared by the National Weather Service. OEM communications inform the executive leadership team’s decisions when shifting campus operations.
Continuity planning is another key aspect of the OEM’s role. When an emergency affects campus life, such as the chilled water outage in 2024, OEM works with units to minimize disruptions. Communication is critical to managing a situation, but to be effective, it must begin before an emergency occurs.
Laura Gustavson, OEM’s assistant director, works with the 136 units on campus to develop continuity of operation (COOP) plans that can be enacted quickly. Certain actions must be taken in the early stages of an emergency, so the team prioritizes relationship building to cultivate a responsive and engaged network on campus.
“The relationship building that happened before the outage was critical during that specific incident because when those phone calls started happening, we were not introducing ourselves,” Gustavson said.
OEM arranges COOP training sessions for individual units, where they work through a hypothetical scenario to test response efforts and coordination.
Smith, Gustavson, and coordinator Gabbie Masinko make up the OEM team charged with preparing the Georgia Tech community to respond to and recover from all hazards. While each member of the team plays a different role, they all feel the same responsibility to keep people safe.
Smith, a Marine Corps veteran and 2001 Tech alumnus in international affairs, never knew he’d work in emergency management, but he says, “I knew this type of service is in my DNA.” His grandfather was a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, and his father worked for Florida Power, routinely dealing with power losses after storms.
Gustavson has always been fascinated by the field. A trip to her hometown EMA office sparked the curiosity that eventually led her to pursue a career in emergency management. Masinko is responsible for emergency planning and supports day-to-day activities for the Office of Emergency Management. She began at Georgia Tech after starting her career as a broadcast meteorologist in Louisiana.
The trio is constantly in communication with each other and often studies previous emergencies — at Tech and around the world — to learn what can be done better the next time, because, as Smith says, “You’re always a phone call or a text away from dropping everything” and putting plans into action.
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