President's Office

Campus Safety Message

April 19, 2013

To the Campus Community:

As everyone is no doubt aware, overnight there was an unspeakable tragedy on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An MIT police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty. It is believed he was killed by one of the two Boston Marathon bombers. Boston and Cambridge are in “lockdown” status as police search for the second bomber in the wake of the officer killing, a car hijacking and other acts of violence. As you all may know, our police chief, Anne Glavin, is the former Chief of Police of the MIT Police Department and spent 27 years on that campus.

Overnight, in the city of Los Angeles, bomb threats continued from late yesterday afternoon. Yesterday the campuses of Cal State LA and Dominguez Hills experienced such threats. These incidents certainly give us all much sadness and concern for our safety. It is important for our campus community to know that I have spoken with Chief Glavin about these incidents and am aware that she and her department are on top of these matters and analyzing the bomb threat situations in the city with benefit of law enforcement intelligence and taking appropriate measures for our campus.

The Chief has directed CSUN Police, including our bomb dog “Isy” and her handler, Corporal Tom Finnerty, to provide a high visibility presence on the campus today to assure our community that we are being vigilant in light of the national incidents. Please know that these actions are simply precautionary and we are not aware of any imminent threats at this time.

“I would ask our CSUN community to have a high degree of awareness while on campus at this time and to report to the CSUN Police any suspicious activity or objects that might seem out of place or cause concern. If you remember the tag line, ‘See Something, Say Something,’ it will remind us all of increased awareness,” said Chief Glavin. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the CSUN Police dispatch center at 818 -677-2111, and they will relay your concerns to the appropriate staff within our department. In the event of an emergency, of course, dial 911.

 

Dianne F. Harrison, Ph.D.
President
California State University, Northridge