Public Safety

The Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management is responsible for the protection of the College community, first aid, emergency assistance, 24-hour escort service (upon request), enforcement of campus parking regulations, and the lost and found service. Officers on each campus are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In Case of Emergency

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In case of a life-threatening emergency, someone should call 9-1-1 and then notify the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management. Students and employees are encouraged to carry a cell phone for reporting emergencies and receiving county and College alerts. Emergency phones are located in all campus elevators and in numerous internal and external locations. These phones will automatically ring in the nearest Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management. Calls made on the emergency phones are recorded. From off campus locations, call 9-1-1 and then notify the appropriate College administrator.

Emergency Preparedness

In the event of emergency situations involving MC directly–or if an emergency occurs at the local, regional, or national level that could impact the college community–MC's Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management personnel and other College officials utilize in-house emergency response plans and coordinate their response activities with local, county, state and federal authorities, as appropriate. The College works directly in conjunction with Montgomery County's Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, in the event of any local activation of the county's Emergency Operations Center. View the timeline of public safety preparedness (PDF, )  actions taken at MC.

Resources

The Montgomery College community should be aware of all of the resources available regarding emergency preparedness. Our office works to ensure that everyone is well prepared for emergencies when they impact any of our students, faculty, staff, or locations. Use the following resources to get you prepared.

Active Attacker Training Video and Steps to Follow

Learning how to be prepared in the event of an active attacker can save your life. This video will teach you the steps that everyone should review and understand to help in case of an active attacker.

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Run

• Have an escape route and plan in mind.
• Leave belongings behind, get out.
• Keep your hands visible. 

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Hide

• Your second option should be hide.
• Do not huddle together.
• Lock down: barricade doors, shut off lights, silence phones.

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Fight

• Fighting is the last resort.
• Try to incapacitate the attacker
• Find object to use as weapons such as a fire extinguisher, chairs.

What to Do During a Lockdown

Hide in the nearest room
Lock or barricade the door
Close windows
Turn off lights
Remain quiet
Do not leave until instructed to do so by law enforcement or public safety

Evacuation Maps

• Germantown
• Rockville
• Takoma Park-Silver Spring
• Gaithersburg Business Training Center
• Wheaton Westfield South

Germantown Evacuation Map (PDF, )
Click on the image for a larger version of the map.

Rockville Evacuation Map (PDF, )
Click on the image for a larger version of the map.

Takoma Park/Silver Spring Evacuation Map (PDF, )
Click on the image for a larger version of the map.

Public Safety Launches New Centralized Dispatch Operation

The College’s Public Safety Central Dispatch, housed in the Central Services building, opened on January 19, 2021. This new state of the art effort provides connectivity with all campus public safety operations, instead of operating independently on each campus. The center is the hub for receiving public safety calls and notifications for all campuses and satellite locations, Central Dispatch staff will communicate with officers at all locations and enable the campus public safety officers to speak directly with each other. The center is staffed with professionally trained and designated dispatchers who will coordinate all routine, urgent and emergency situations along with monitoring life safety systems, CCTV and countywide emergency and weather related incidents. The integration of the enhanced county wide radio system ensures for direct clear connectivity. The launch of a new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system coupled with a new report management system ensures detailed, accurate reporting and tracking that aids in regulatory compliance requirements. The center will also function as an emergency communications command center in the event of a major emergency.

Annual Security Report (Clery Act)

Montgomery College’s Annual Security Report is prepared and distributed in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), and all implementing regulations issued by the US Department of Education (34 C.F.R. Part 668.46).