MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Gladys M. Rickard Charitable Trust has awarded Northwest Missouri State University and its University Police Department with grant funds to purchase lifesaving equipment.

The grant funds, amounting to $7,500, will be used to purchase equipment including helmets with shields and vests designed to protect officers confronting an active shooter or civil disturbance. The equipment also enhances officers’ abilities to respond to such situations.

“This critical equipment allows us the ability to respond in a more efficient way and provide a level of safety to our officers who are responding as well as to those folks who they are saving,” University Police Chief Clarence Green said.

Northwest serves as the lead agency for armed intruder training for all law enforcement agencies within the region, and the University Police Department proactively educates Northwest students and employees about “Run, Hide, Fight,” a national model for responding to a hostile intruder.

In spring 2017, Northwest developed and led a full-scale exercise involving an armed intruder, and the new equipment was identified as a need during after-action reviews of the exercise.

Green, who will oversee the implementation of the new equipment, said the University Police Department trains for hostile intruder situations three times a year, in addition to quarterly firearms training.

Northwest’s University Police Department serves all students, faculty, staff and visitors on the campus. All of its police officers are state-certified and have commission that extends their authority throughout the state of Missouri. Since its operations began more than 50 years ago, the department has progressed into a national leader in campus law enforcement and prevention-based policing practices. Today, the department is responsible for police services, emergency planning and coordination, emergency communication, parking management, student security and transportation services on the campus.