Emergency Exercise Held At Utica College

The Utica Police Department, Oneida County Sheriff's Office, fire, EMS and other emergency personnel, held a full-scale exercise at Utica College on Friday designed to evaluate response procedures in the event of a critical incident scenario.

The exercise took place in the areas of Romano Hall, White Hall and the Gordon Science Center.

Utica College held a similar exercise in January of 2018.  Just two months later, there was a bomb threat on campus.

UC officials say the increase in threats on college campuses over the last decade requires deliberate, ongoing and comprehensive planning and preparation for a wide range of emergency scenarios.

"The college, in coordination with the Utica Police Department and other professional crisis and emergency management personnel, conducted a full-scale exercise to evaluate response procedures by all involved. The incident was designed to involve many faucets of emergency response, including police, fire, EMS and others. It was a great opportunity to test procedures and skills that we hope to never need," said Shad Crowe, director of emergency management at Utica College.