By: Ross Boettcher
DEKALB, Ill. - A unique relationship between Northern Illinois University students and its police officers may have prevented additional fatalities during an on-campus shooting on Thursday, Feb. 14.
NIU Chief of Police Donald Grady said officers on the scene were able to give immediate attention to victims because all NIU officers are certified emergency medical technicians.
The overall effectiveness of the officers' responses during the shooting will never be known, since five lives were still lost. Despite the fatalities, Grady said his officers' expertise helped provide aide to the wounded NIU students.
"I would like to say we saved, or at least prolonged the lives of four or five individuals," Grady said. "We didn't tell them to hold on while they were bleeding out, we took action."
Grady also said the immediate medical attention provided by his officers allowed for flexibility while the rest of his team made sure the scene was secure. Before any emergency medical personnel were allowed into Cole Hall, officers had to be certain that the area was secure.
While security and life preservation are top priorities for Grady and the rest of the NIU Police, they take more of a hands-on approach in their roles. Each NIU officer is assigned to a dormitory or on-campus housing building to do more than just enforce the law.
Grady said students and officers have a "friendly and cordial relationship," that is much different from other universities around the country.
"If they [students] have a problem they can come to us," he said. "We're not just enforcing the law…we are able to spend a lot more time then other student-officer relationships."
Grady said he sees each NIU student as an individual who is away from their family and needs security. He said it is his duty, and the duty of the NIU Police to act as parental figures and treat students as if they are they were their own.
Grady said the job of the NIU police now is to re-establish security on campus and make sure students are confident in DeKalb's atmosphere.
"We will continue to work hard," Grady said. "Our presence is absolute."
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As the parent of an ISU student,I am glad to hear that the NIU police view their relationship with the NIU student population as positive and supportive,and not confrontational. This should allow the NIU student population to transition into a more secure and a less troubling student life.
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