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UMW President Judy Hample fakes emergency call, says it was part of campus safety exercise Date published: 10/23/2009
BY JEFF BRANSCOME
University of Mary Washington President Judy Hample recently faked an emergency call to campus police, but a college spokesman said officials should have known it was part of a safety exercise. During a campus safety walk late last month, Hample used an emergency system--called a blue light phone--to tell a dispatcher that somebody was preventing her from entering her vehicle in UMW's parking garage, a spokesman said. She identified herself as Judy Hample but didn't say it was a test. Two students who witnessed the incident said Hample's voice grew more and more panicked. At one point, she told the dispatcher that the man may have a gun and urged police to hurry. Police responded on foot and in cruisers with sirens on. The Bullet, UMW's student-run newspaper, first reported the incident. It's against the law to file a false report to police, but UMW spokesman Torre Meringolo stressed that Hample's call was part of an official school exercise. He said Hample is not at fault for what he called a "failure in some internal communication." He said she informed "key individuals" of her plan to test emergency response systems. "This is one of the things that happens on the campus safety walk," Meringolo said. "Everything that has to do with campus security is tested and observed." UMW's safety walks focus on student concerns such as broken pathways and unlit areas on campus. Meringolo said Assistant Vice President for Public Safety Susan Knick had tested the blue light system during a previous safety walk, but the dispatcher "failed to respond." Campus police should have been aware of "the real potential for another test of the system" on Sept. 30, he said. UMW sophomore James Sennett, who helped organize last month's safety exercise, said that in the earlier test Knick identified herself to the dispatcher and told him what she was doing. She asked the operator to confirm which blue light phone she was using, but he couldn't. Police are supposed to be able to tell which phone is being used.
If the police are the ones to blame, they are required to
have an officer in the garage at all times. Where was he?
Asleep on the job? If this was real, would you want to wait 6
min for a single officer to arrive? Hample isn't giving any free
rides like Frawley did, she is committed to the safety of
anyone on the campus and doesn't care about feelings. Oh
and by the way, The police knew about the test a week in
advance.
Even, with most positive spin, her goal was conducting a
drill, this was impulsive and very dangerous - exactly the
opposite of promoting campus safety. There are
professional ways to conduct drills and this wasn't one of
them. Hample's self-justifications are pure ego and
arrogance. Last 2 UMW presidents could benefit from a
touch of humility and a better grasp of the power of a well-
timed apology and acceptance of responsibility for
mistakes. Hample apologizes for nothing - ever - pathetic!
it probably goes with the job
I have been reliably told that she tested the system without any sort of oordination with campus PD or any other university departments. From the story: "Campus police should have been aware of "the real potential for another test of the system" SHOULD have??? How? Was there ever a plan for another test? one without the knowledge of campus PD or it's chief? Considering the campus density (buildings and students) and that it was dark, this was nothing short of reckless endangerment on her part. What idiocy!
FLS hasn't even scratched the surface!
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