By Nicholas Gallo, Staff Writer
Wednesday, St. Bonaventure University welcomed local and state first responders to campus, as personnel, students and faculty volunteers participated in a simulation of emergency response in the event of a campus attack.
The SBU-TV news team took to Facebook Live, Instagram and Snapchat to give those unable to participate a look at law enforcement tactics in an active shooter situation. For some students, though, coverage of these seemingly confidential simulations caused concern.
Sarah Dezio, a junior strategic communication major, expressed her discomfort with the coverage.
“I honestly feel that it’s inappropriate to be filming,” said Dezio. “If someone wanted to threaten our school and our safety, now they have video coverage of exactly what goes on behind the policemen’s shoulders – watching their every move to solve the problem so they know every loophole to get out of law enforcement hands.”
She reiterated that she feels uncomfortable and unsafe. She said anyone would be able to get the footage and that she believes SBU-TV crossed a line.
“From my understanding, they filmed the entire drill from the beginning to the end, following the police officers in sequence of their procedures,” Dezio said. “If you wanted to cover the story after the drill was done, to me that is okay. But, filming it and covering it while it is happening, I am not okay with.”
Yoselin Person, a sophomore journalism major and executive producer for SBU-TV, helped cover the active shooter drill.
She said, at times, she did feel uncomfortable filming participants’ simulated injuries and a portion of the drill where a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team entered the building.
Regardless, Person said she feels the team made the right decision.
“Us journalists, we are going to give you the facts, we are going to tell you the truth and we are going to give you information that you need to know about your safety and security and show people what exactly happened,” Person said. “I do not feel concerned about the media we have posted.”
Stephen Wilt, a sophomore journalism major, said he felt the SBU-TV coverage translated similar to a drama performance.
He added that the coverage of such simulations, in general, comes across as unprofessional.
“They just gave a step-by-step tutorial of how to get around the protocols,” Wilt said. “Their job is to make the news, not a documentary.”
Wilt reiterated that he thought it was a joke and very unprofessional.
Wilt reiterated that he feels the coverage could have been handled differently, without disclosing so much information.
