TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Tallahassee Police Officers are investigating a drunk driver who allegedly assaulted officers, leading to a chase into Florida State University’s campus. It happened at about 2:00a.m. on Mar. 29. FSU Police Officers apprehended the suspect just south of Strozier Library.
Major Jim Russell, Deputy Chief of Police at FSU-PD, says after the suspect was in custody, he notified the community about the incident with an application called FSU Alert.
“The FSU Alert is something that is put together to give a quick notification to the University when there is an imminent threat or a serious threat ongoing on campus,” Russell said.
Thanks to FSU Alert, when crime or police activity takes place on campus, students can be notified through social media, email or text messages.
“The whole point is to get information out to our community so they can help or take steps to protect themselves,” said Russell, “because the only other way to let people know is to get on the PA system and yell at people to stay away, which is so much less efficient than using the technology that we have available. So it’s an awesome tool that we have to use.”
The early morning notification on Mar. 29 wasn’t an emergency alert emailed and texted to students, but a crime bulletin posted online.
“We did something that is called a passive alert, which means we aren’t pushing the information out via text and email, but we’re populating the website and Facebook site,” said Russell. “So if people are interested and want to know what’s going on, they can get that information right away.”
Elsa Portanyi is a junior at FSU. She says the alert system and the safety tips they send to students maker her feel more at ease about campus safety.
“I think it’s awesome because I don’t live on campus, and I walk a lot, but I don’t live that far,” Portanyi said. “A lot of times if I’m leaving the library at night or something then I kind of keep in mind the things that they’ve been saying.”
To view FSU Alerts, visit their website at alerts.fsu.edu, their Twitter page at twitter.com/FSUAlert or their Facebook page at facebook.com/FsuAlert.
