Panic Alarms Available for Staff at JJC

Every year, Joliet Junior College hosts an Active Shooter drill but that's not the only thing the campus does to help keep everyone safe.

Staff and instructors on campus can buy the buttons, which are about the size of a business card that are then assigned a location on campus. When the panic button is pressed, a message goes out to the radios of all Joliet Junior College police officers that indicated the location of the emergency.

"The message says, 'police assistance needed in room such and such,'" JJC Police Chief Pete Comanda said.

Some years ago, the police department purchased the basic system and initial buttons for $17,000. The money came directly from fines.

Currently, there are about 100 active buttons on campus. About 30 days ago, the program was expanded to the City Center campus.

Comanda said this particular program is not useful for students at the campus as the buttons must be assigned a location. If a student was walking to his or her car and encountered an emergency, pushing the button would send police to the assigned location, not the location from where the student pressed the button. The buttons also have to be bought by the person carrying it and the initial purchase is around a $300 investment.

In a classroom, though, the buttons not only provide an added level of security but do so discretely.

"What's good with this is that somebody doesn't see you,"  Comanda said. "It's not like you have to overtly call."

You can learn more about the emergency proceedures at JJC by clicking here.