To: USC Students, Faculty, and Staff
From: David Wright
Senior Vice President, Administration
Date: December 11, 2023
The USC Department of Public Safety (DPS) regularly partners with other first responder agencies in drills to help law enforcement officials practice working together in response to a critical situation.
This Thursday, December 14, DPS will partner with the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, and others in a drill at the University Park Campus that will simulate an active shooter situation. The recent tragedy at UNLV underscores the need for these drills as part of our training to handle critical incidents.
The drill will be in the center of campus at Bing Theatre, and participants also will be at Taper Hall.
To create a more realistic drill, we will use visual and audio effects to set the stage, including clearly identifiable replica weapons and actors with simulated injuries. The fire department officials will remove “injured” actors and attend to their injuries nearby.
Please anticipate seeing a large number of uniformed officers on campus. Please avoid this area of campus on Thursday if at all possible.
Participants will begin to gather on campus at 8 a.m. The first drill will start at around 10 a.m., and a second drill will start around 11:45 a.m.
We appreciate your understanding as we work with our partners in law enforcement to ensure we are all appropriately trained and coordinated for emergency responses at the university. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact DPS at (213) 740-6000.