Association News

The IACLEA Domestic Preparedness Committee (DPC) is charged with identifying emerging trends and best practices in campus preparedness for human-caused, technological, and natural disasters.  The DPC meets on a weekly basis and is comprised of members representing public and private institutions at the two-year and four-year levels.  There is also representation of departments that are both sworn and non-sworn, serving HBCUs, research and non-research focused institutions, and institutions located outside of the United States.

Goals in which the committee has been working on or completed in the last year include:

1. Developing a cadre of trainers assigned by region to provide training, or assistance with exercise offerings and implementation covering various topics.
2. Developing model policy and guidance documents addressing unmanned aircraft use on-campus.
3. Developing a collection of best practice documents related to protecting campus communities.
4. Developing guidance for public safety best practices related to security of ROTC and other tenant governmental agency spaces on campus.
5. Developing information sheets regarding radicalization on college campuses.
6. Developing best practice guidance for event venues and site security recommendations.
7. Developing guidance documents on human trafficking related to college campuses (i.e., sex work and exploitation of foreign workers/researchers).
8. Developing guidance documents for active assailant response for armed institutions and for unarmed institutions.
9. Developing a best practice guide for equipment needs and interoperability involved in crisis response on-campus and within the community.

The DPC met with IACLEA board members and the Director of National Intelligence representative to discuss partnership initiatives which may be beneficial to the general membership.  The committee also participated in a number of panel discussions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and provided numerous policy and procedure documents in an effort to assist institutions in responding to and recovering from the pandemic.  DPC members have been engaged with and led panel discussions related to bomb-threats at higher education institutions across the nation.

We continue to seek input from the IACLEA general membership regarding issues of concern so we may work together to keep our campuses safe places to live, learn, work, and visit.

For additional information regarding the IACLEA Domestic Preparedness Committee, please contact IACLEA Deputy Executive Director, Josh Bronson.