Emergency alert system at PPCC: Why some students never received a text alert

We’re looking into emergency alert systems used on college campuses following a reported threat at Pikes Peak Community College.

The threat was first reported Tuesday afternoon but turned out to be a misunderstanding. It happened at the college’s Centennial campus.

Officials could not tell us what the student said or details about the specific threat. The moment authorities suspected students and staff were in danger, the campus was notified.

“We look at kind of putting the pieces to the puzzle. We try to decide if it’s a credible threat or if it needs to be announced. We had enough information in this case that the officers made a decision to alert the campus,” said James Barrentine, chief of police at PCCC.

The threat was announced to every student and faculty member through e-mail. There were 2,000 students who never received a text alert.

“A student in my class came up to me and said look did you get this alert? And I was like no I didn’t,” said Meagan Gatto, Freshman at PPCC.

School administrators say it’s every students responsibility to go online and enroll for the text alerts, otherwise they’ll only receive e-mails.

“Today’s incident of having this alert going out that we ended up canceling, would certainly be an example of where we’re going to err on the side of keeping students safe,” said Dr. Lance Bolton, president of PPCC.

About 2,000 students on campus are not signed up for those text alerts. The alerts include both safety and weather related scenarios. For some students, one text could make the difference.

“It’s nice they have security and actually letting their students know that you guys are safe in our hands and we will alert you make sure you’re safe,” said Jesse Gouge, freshman at PPCC.

The student who made the alleged threat will not be disciplined since the investigation was deemed a misunderstanding.

To sign up for text alerts with PPCC click here.