Students produce video for Indy Public Safety

A group of current and former UIndy students produced an informational video that the Indianapolis Department of Public Safety is using to prepare local schools for emergencies involving armed assailants.

The seven-minute video, titled “Run. Hide. Fight. An Active Intruder Response,” was undertaken as an extracurricular project by four Communication majors who have served on the UIndyTV staff: junior Megan Fee of Spring Hill, Tenn.; junior Kaitlyn Kopetski of Lakeville; senior Trevor Cox of Greenwood; and December 2013 graduate Zach Laffin of Brownsburg. Other UIndy students, staffers and alumni appear in the video. The finished product may be viewed here.

WXIN-Fox59 interviewed Fee and Kopetski last week about the video project. Watch the report here.

Below is the full text of the Department of Public Safety’s April 16 news release on the video.

Local schools can improve preparedness for active shooters with help from DPS video

INDIANAPOLIS – A new video from the Department of Public Safety is helping Indy schools prepare for  emergencies that involve active shooters.

The video project, entitled “Run. Hide. Fight. An Active Intruder Response,” provides guidance for schools in the event of an emergency involving an active shooter. The video is a collaboration between the Division of Homeland Security and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s SWAT Team.

“We will always embrace the opportunity to work with our schools to improve the safety of our students,” said Public Safety Director Troy Riggs. “We hope none of our schools ever encounter an active shooter situation, but in the event that they do, we want them to be as prepared as possible to deal with it.”

Production of the active shooter video was funded by the Indy Public Safety Foundation. The video was produced, written, shot and edited by students at the University of Indianapolis (UIndy). The team of four communication majors included junior Megan Fee of Spring Hill, Tenn.; junior Kaitlyn Kopetski of Lakeville, senior Trevor Cox of Greenwood; and December 2013 graduate Zach Laffin of Brownsburg. All are or were staff members for the Department of Communication’s UIndyTV news operation. The group shot the footage at UIndy with a cast of primarily amateur actors and voice talent.

“Working with the Department of Public Safety was an extremely rewarding experience that the university was able to set up for us,” said Fee, who led the group and is credited as an executive producer on the video. “There were parts that were challenging, but I learned to overcome them with the help of an amazing team.”

Homeland Security’s Domestic Preparedness Unit has been sharing and will continue to share the video with school administrators around Marion County with support and assistance from IMPD’s SWAT Team.

“Run. Hide. Fight. An Active Intruder Response,” can be viewed or downloaded by clicking here.