The campus's 36 security guards and five supervisors usually don't carry weapons but have radios for calling police.

If they are approved for full police powers, the UH guards would have the authority to arrest criminal suspects and, when warranted, use deadly force.

"We're trying to establish a campus police service," said Neal Sakamoto, chief of campus security at UH-Manoa.

The deadliest shooting massacre in modern U.S. history raised questions about how schools and universities handle random acts of violence.

A recent audit of security at UH-Manoa and 12 similar-sized universities showed that UH is the only campus with more than 25,000 students, faculty and staff that does not have armed officers with police powers, said Sakamoto.

While the university has disaster plans in place, there is no formal plan for dealing with a roving gunman, Sakamoto said. The university would call 911 and wait for Honolulu police to arrive, he said.

GOAL IS CONTAINMENT

The security staff at UH would respond to a shooting incident as an "emergency response to a mass casualty. We'd try to contain the situation until police arrive," Sakamoto said.

Six security personnel patrol the 300-acre campus at all times.

Another issue raised by yesterday's shooting was how university officials should alert students and staff in the event of danger. Virginia Tech officials did not send out a campuswide alert over the school's public address system and instead sent an e-mail alerting students to the first of the shootings about two hours after it happened.

UH-Manoa does not have a public address system, and students and staff would be notified of a crisis by e-mail and telephone calls.

Honolulu police have procedures for handling an "active shooter," someone who essentially has gone on a killing spree, officials said yesterday. The procedures are reviewed annually, but in light of yesterday's shooting, they are being reviewed ahead of schedule to see if changes are warranted.

"We have procedures in place to deal with the kind of scenario that took place this morning at Virginia Tech," said Honolulu police Capt. Frank T. Fujii. "These situations are very fluid and evolve quickly and our actions are going to be dictated as they evolve. We're always going to have to gauge public safety, but the purpose of our engagement is to stop the threat."

Officials declined to discuss the plans in detail, citing the need to keep the department's response confidential to protect officers and public safety.

However, officers responding to the scene would likely lock down the area and force evacuations of students and staff, police said. Police routinely lock down school campuses at the report of an armed suspect in the area, and a confirmed shooting would get an intense response, police said.

Protecting the UHcampus presents challenges, as it is wide open and located in the heart of Honolulu, near freeway exits and on-ramps and is subject to the same levels of crime as the rest of the city, school officials said. Securing a large, heavily populated place is almost impossible, officials said.

Gregg Takayama, UH spokesman, said yesterday: "Of course we were shocked and saddened at the incident and we wish something like this is preventable but we're not sure it is. Most college campuses are wide open and there aren't security guards at every entrance. We're subject to the same kinds of crimes as the general community."

DOE'S PLAN

UH-Manoa Chancellor Denise Konan, in a statement released yesterday, expressed sorrow at the tragedy.

"Our thoughts go particularly to the families of the students and staff of Virginia Tech who lost loved ones in this unthinkable incident," Konan said. "The campus violence that erupted earlier today is truly shocking and makes us recognize the importance of caring for our own community. We take the safety of our students and campus community very seriously."

Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said every public school has an emergency plan but not one specific to a gunman on a killing spree. An immediate lockdown would occur and police would be called, he said.

"There is no specific plan for deranged gunmen, and this is similar to Columbine. There is an (emergency) plan, but in reality if a deranged gunman forces his way onto campus, it becomes a matter of trying to limit the damage and contain them," said Knudsen. "When it is something at this scale, catastrophic, it is very difficult to be that totally prepared. Our schools are not impenetrable and our regular security would not be armed. As terrible as this is, it is very isolated and it is not the norm and I would think particularly so in Hawai'i."

Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Here is a list of student safety resources available at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa: