AACC’s Department of Public Safety and Police will begin campus-wide active shooter drills on Oct. 2.

Public safety will play a message over the alarm system, prompting students and faculty to undergo emergency protocols.

“All we want people to do is to lock down safely either in their classrooms or an office or some other room where if someone were to come into the building, they would not be easily seen,” Arlene Crow, AACC’s emergency manager, said. “All people are going to do is lock their doors, turn off lights, shut down their cell phones. … And then they’re going to hide in a location in the room where you cannot be seen through the glass in the door, … so if somebody’s looking through that they can’t see you. … That’s all we’re having people do.”

Public safety will shut down one building at a time, and send teams of evaluators to make sure everyone is locked down correctly.

“When they have completely cleared the building … then there will be another announcement that comes through that says, ‘The drill has ended, you may now resume normal activities,’” Crow said.

In most buildings, the drill will last for less than 20 minutes, but larger ones may require more time, Crow said.

Kara Mestanas, a second-year pre-med student, said students don’t need lockdown drills.

“I feel like since we’re adults here, we can probably figure out how to evacuate on our own,” Mestanas said. “I don’t want to waste my class time doing it.”

Second-year kinesiology student Nick Chargualaf disagreed.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Chargualaf said. “A lot of people may not be aware of what to do.”

Crow said this is the first of ongoing lockdown drills.