MNPD Takes ‘First Step’ Toward Collaborating with University Campuses

The Metro Police Department is offering a free threat vulnerability assessment for Nashville colleges and universities.

Captain Anthony Carter of Metro’s special operations division calls it a first step toward tightening security on campuses following last week’s shootings at Virginia Tech.

“We have pretty much just been inundated with doing all the high schools, grades 1-12 and all the private schools. That’s our primary focus and has been our primary focus all these years to make sure those children are safe, and we’ve worked continuously with the process every year. So now we’re just going to broaden it to the universities.”

The department held a meeting with security officials from some 25 colleges and universities (today/yesterday). They now will schedule one-on-one campus visits with schools as large as Vanderbilt and as small as the Nashville Auto Diesel College.

Captain Carter says the hope is to gain access to building schematics, on-campus surveillance and emergency plans, which were formerly not shared in detail with the department. He says the increased cooperation will help Metro Police respond to incidents but adds that deterrence is still the main objective.