07:39 AM PDT on Tuesday, April 17, 2007
By CHRIS DANIELS / KING 5 News and Wire Reports
SEATTLE - In the wake of yesterday's horrific carnage at Virginia Tech, security patrols have been stepped up at University of Washington and Seattle University. Officials say they are seeking to reassure their students of their safety, but the shootings also raise questions on how secure our local campuses are.
At the University of Washington, all available campus officers and extra police officer were out on patrol. The Department has about 50 commissioned officers. And at Seattle University, officers from the Seattle Police Department were stationed outside the main entrance while the private university's 19-strong private, unarmed security force also stepped up campus patrols.
But officials at both schools say it's virtually impossible to secure any campus with so many buildings.  
Every American college campus will be asking several crucial questions over the coming days. 
"Is there an evacuation, or shelter in pace, if there is a lockdown? They need to understand what to do if there is an active shooter on the campus," said Martin Speckmaier, school safety consultant. 
UW officials say it does have a phone trail and e-mail system to lock down the campus.  It a system tested just two weeks ago when a man killed a 26-year-old employee at the College of Architecture. 
"It's a difficult challenge because universities and colleges pride themselves on an open environment," said Vicki Stormo, UW Police Chief.  
Local Virginia Tech alumni say they always felt safe at the Blacksburg campus, but those vulnerabilities were exposed Monday over the course of a few hours. 
"Blacksburg is such a sweet quite town, where this school is and it's a beautiful campus - to think of horrible things happening there," said Cindy Blacksburg, Virginia Tech alumni. 
"It's one of those places where people from big cities send their kids because it's that type of safe environment," said Marcus Jenkins, Virginia Tech alumni. 
Seattle University has been working a on a program to install plainclothes marshals in each campus building. Undoubtedly all our local campuses will be examining security policies in the days and weeks ahead. 
The Associated Press contributed to this report