U. postpones emergency notification system test in light of Boston lockdown

A campus-wide test of the University's emergency notification system originally scheduled for Friday, April 19 has been postponed in light of recent tragic events in Boston, Environmental Health and Safety Director Robin Izzo explained in an email sent to the University community this morning.

Izzo explained that the annual test is federally required in accordance with the Clery Act, which requires the University to test its emergency notification system once each academic year while students are present.

University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua explained that the test was scheduled weeks ago and that it will be rescheduled before the end of the semester. The new date will be announced in the days ahead “when a suitable date has been identified," Mbugua said

The decision to postpone the test was made this morning during a conference call with representatives from the Office of the Executive Vice President, the Department of Public Safety and the Environmental and Health Safety Office.

On Friday, Boston police shut down public transportation, businesses and schools within the city as they pursued a suspect behind the Marathon Monday bombings. The suspect, whose brother and alleged accomplice was killed early Friday in a shoot-out with police, is on the run after fatally shooting an MIT police officer on Thursday night.

The test was postponed in light of these recent events and the fact that testing requires an outdoor notification system, which may cause people to panic if they are unaware that the tone sounding created by the test is merely for testing purposes, Izzo said.

The procedure will test the Princeton Telephone and Email Notification System and the blue light tower outdoor notification system.

New blue light telephone towers, which contain loudspeakers that are able to broadcast emergency messages across campus, were installed before the beginning of the current academic year.

The Boston incidents also prompted a reaction from the Princeton Police Department who issued a press release disclosing that the University wil use an aerial drone to take photos and videos of Princeton. Seargent Michael Cifelli explained that his department was releasing this information in light of the recent incidents to make sure the population was aware that the drone will pose no danger or threat to the community and that it will only be employed during daylight hours.

“We wanted to get this out to try to avert any kind of panic in light of the events this past week,” Princeton Police Department Administrative Sergeant Michael Cifelli explained in the email containing the press release.

Mbugua explained that the aerial drone will be employed by a photographer who has chosen to use “aerial photography equipment” to take different shots of campus for admission purposes. Mbugua added that the University does not own aerial photography equipment.