The Local Lessons from Virginia Tech

“That’s a good question,” St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron said Thursday afternoon.

The Bay Net posed a single question to Cameron, Maryland State Police Leonardtown Barrack Commander Lt. Brian Cedar, and President of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Dr. Maggie O’Brien, “What are the lessons from Virginia Tech?”

“The number one lesson is all of us are vulnerable,” Dr. O’Brien said.

A nation in shock learned that Virginia’s easy gun laws were a major contributing factor which enabled mentally ill Cho Seung-Hui, 23, to carry out the worst campus massacre in U.S. history on Monday.

O’Brien said the college has zero tolerance policy for all types of weapons and there are no second chances on that violation.

One campus that received the jolts the most was the College of Southern Maryland as Monday evening the college experienced a bomb hoax. “A bomb threat is exceedingly rare,” said Stephen Goldman, general counsel for the College of Southern Maryland, who spoke from La Plata on behalf of college president Dr. Bradley Gottfried.

“We are revising our emergency operations plan,” Goldman said, adding the Critical Incident Management Team of the college will be meeting shortly.

Cameron responded the first lesson to be learned from the Virginia Tech mass slayings is awareness about the available resources to cope with an emergency of that magnitude.

For Cedar, the most important lesson was buying guns should not be as easy as buying cheese and he hoped the Commonwealth of Virginia would change its liberal gun laws. Cedar said gun buyers from as far as New York cross through three different states to make purchases in Virginia.

Cameron showered praise on St. Mary’s School Supervisor Dr. Michael Martirano for being ahead of the game and solidifying the school emergency response protocol.

Weapons and explosives are a major concern at St. Mary’s public schools and last academic year there were 11 suspensions for possessions of explosives, six suspensions for possession of “other” (pellet) guns, and as many as 45 suspensions for possession of other weapons.

Cameron said the police have plans, provisions and procedures in place to deal with such eventualities. “The county has emergency operation plans as well,” he said.

But the sheriff emphasized what needs to be ensured is solid partnerships with the Board of Education, College of Southern Maryland and St. Mary’s College. “You gotta maintain those relationships and understand each other’s expectations,” Cameron said.

Cameron said the law-enforcement in Virginia Tech faced a formidable challenge. “They are 2,600 acres with more than 25,000 people. We are talking about an operation that is the size of Pax River,” he said.

Cameron pointed out that Maryland Virtual Emergency Response System has been in place in St. Mary’s public sch