Emergency Buttons and Locks Pop up Around Campus

New emergency buttons and locks are appearing inside and outside of classrooms across campus. Initiated by the Integrated Security Department out of Pitt-Oakland, emergency buttons have been placed in some academic buildings, with plans to add them to the residence halls soon. 

Lieutenant Matthew Walko, the head of Pitt-Greensburg’s campus police, is pleased with the safety upgrades.

“Anytime you can improve the safety of the campus and enhance confidence in the campus community, it’s a welcome change,” Walko says. 

The installation of the new emergency technology comes on the heels of the installation of the same technology at Pitt-Oakland. 

The emergency buttons are set to be installed in every classroom on campus. When the buttons and locks are fully integrated, the entrance and exit doors to all classrooms will have automatic locks. Typically, the emergency buttons can be found by the podiums or the entrances of the classrooms. 

Lt. Walko explains that in case of an emergency, students or faculty can press the emergency button located in their classroom. This will automatically lock the classroom doors. An alert will then be sent to Pitt’s communications center, which will then alert the officers on duty. 

Tim Wege, director of facilities on campus, thinks the emergency buttons will help further ease people’s minds when it comes to safety. 

“We just want to make sure everybody’s safe,” Wege says. “[For students especially] It’s nice knowing that (the emergency buttons) are there.”

The project, Lt. Walko adds, will benefit the entire campus community. 

“Adding this technology to our campus buildings will help create an even safer experience at Pitt-Greensburg,” Lt. Walko says.