March 19, 2002
John Petrie, GW’s Source of Public Safety and
Emergency Management
Former Navy Captain Develops Preparedness Plan
By Greg
Licamele
In the hours after the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks, GW telephone lines were congested. Friends, family,
and co-workers could only be reached through lucky timing.
Since Sept. 11, GW has taken
dramatic steps to improve security and preparedness, most notably by
hiring John Petrie as assistant vice president for public safety and
emergency management. The retired Navy captain with a commanding presence
and a comforting voice will have to muster his military experience,
as well as all of the University’s resources, to prepare for everything
from future phone problems to potential terrorist attacks.
Petrie began working at GW
in December. For about one month, all he did was read. He read GW documents
and policies. He read reports from other universities. He read the Federal
Emergency Management Agency’s regulations. In the ensuing weeks,
Petrie developed an emergency preparedness plan for the University,
which is currently under review by senior GW officials.
With almost 35 years of service
in the Navy, Petrie has learned that preparedness has a bottom line
— protecting people first. As his father advised him, “If
you know what your priorities are, and you know what’s important
to you, then all of your decisions are clear, even if they are not easy.”
Navy Parallels
“When I ran Naval Station
Norfolk, which is the world’s largest Naval facility, there were
106 ships, 8,000 acres, a $1.2 billion physical plant, $200 million
budget, and a staff of 5,000,” Petrie says. “In addition to
roads, streets, piers, ships, and buildings, I had dozens of academic
buildings, a stadium, three bowling alleys, five swimming pools, a dozen
baseball fields, and four gymnasiums. When you take all of those pieces,
it’s functionally a campus.”
Petrie finds parallels between the Navy and GW in almost everything
he does. The cultures are definitive in the different academies. In
the Navy, you never abandon a ship until the surrounding water is safer;
at GW, you never want to evacuate a building to someplace that’s
less safe. At Naval Station Norfolk, Petrie contended with a series
of destructive hurricanes, winter storms, flooding, and terrorist alerts.
Petrie says GW needs to be prepared for those incidents, as well as
smaller mishaps such as laser printers catching fire. In all cases,
his response would mirror that of the Navy.
“It’s the same framework,” Petrie says. “What are
the options? Which one serves us best? The priority is the same —
how do you protect people?”
The Plan
The core of the plan reads for 22 pages, but it will blossom after deans,
directors, and chairs include their appendices for how their organizations
will meet the three stages for incidents: preparation, response, and
recovery. The plan revolves around generic guidelines for all people
under the GW logo, with the possible exception of the University’s
affiliates in Spain and France. Among others, Petrie has asked the deans
at Foggy Bottom, leading personnel at the Mount Vernon and Virginia
campuses, and program directors at the Alexandria and Hampton Roads
centers, to provide ways to protect three priorities: people, property,
and vital interests.
“We need to have people at the local level (departments and campuses)
comfortable with what’s expected of them and what they have the
authority to do,” Petrie says. “If they are confident and
comfortable, then the chances of their being able to prepare, respond,
or recover are easier.” Petrie expects these appendices to include
ways to restore services using similar equipment and alternative sources
such as classrooms, telephone systems, and the ability for employees
to work from home.
Protecting people is the No. 1 priority for Petrie. He describes property
as not so much the economic value, but GW’s academic mission ranging
from a residence hall to a piece of art. The term “vital interests”
covers many ways the University works, including continuity of operations,
such as scheduling classes and paying the bills.
“A class has to happen on Wednesday mornings if it’s scheduled
to happen,” Petrie says. “So if something happens to your
classroom, either by Wednesday morning it has to be available or everyone
has to clearly understand where they are going to go for an alternative.”
This preparedness cuts across all corners of the University.
“For payroll folks, it’s being sure that the payroll is supposed
to be put in the mail or sent electronically on the night of the 28th.”
Petrie explains. “It’s being sure that Burger King is putting
out burgers and that the guy who was supposed to bring the lettuce got
to the delivery dock.”
Essentially, “vital interests” focuses on everyone’s
job that makes the University run from day-to-day.
“Those are the things we need to preserve,” Petrie says.
Responding to One Sept. 11 Challenge
The days following that infamous autumn day presented challenges for
universities across the country. Petrie says GW’s biggest challenge
was communication, specifically when the telephones were not responsive.
To resolve that particular challenge in the future, Petrie says 14 University
Police Department vehicles are being outfitted with public address speakers
using different radio frequencies.
“We’re going to take those vehicles and put them on short
routes or stop them at geographic locations around the campus,”
Petrie says. “We’ll be able to transmit from Woodhull House
or Rice Hall and tell people what they need to do. We’ll have a
way to authoritatively and concisely provide guidance in a large area.”
Jack Harrald, co-director of GW’s Institute for Crisis, Disaster,
and Risk Management, says this public address system is a smart plan.
“[In crises], people don’t panic,” Harrald says. “[In
New York], they were hungry for information. They wanted to know what
to do.”
Harrald says that before Sept. 11, the worst-case scenario for a university
might have been a residence hall fire. The stakes have increased after
that sunny September day. He says universities are uniquely vulnerable
because the boundaries are so open, unlike an office building. In November,
Harrald and Joseph Barbera, co-director of the institute, briefed GW
vice presidents about emergency scenarios students in their classes
devised for the University.
“There was a general level of concern among the vice presidents,”
Harrald says.
With Petrie’s hiring, Harrald hopes the captain receives the cooperation
he needs from all corners of the University. “It’s a critical
strategic function,” Harrald says.
Reaching Across the GW Community
Petrie wants people to be prepared during an emergency, so he’d
like the manual to be posted online later this semester. He wants the
community to ask questions, provide feedback, and understand emergency
situations.
“We should have a fairly mature plan in place by the time the fall
semester begins,” Petrie says. “It’s never going to be
right. There will always be something we can do better.”
Since Petrie is an “office-of-one” with no one directly working
for him, he has reached out across the community, talking about, and
listening to, concerns. In one instance, he met with the Parents Advisory
Committee. At that meeting, and at others around campus, Petrie has
been faced with how much information is too much to release and how
much is not enough. At the parents meeting, Petrie says he cited one
of America’s best-known authors for some guidance.
“Stephen King has found ways to touch things in our emotions that
caused our fears to be activated, that excited us, and many people enjoyed
that,” Petrie says. “But since Sept. 11, we have found those
same emotions can be touched in ways that are absolutely horrific and
terrifying, especially when it comes to those threats that will affect
those we love. The balance is in there someplace and it depends on the
context. I told the parents that I had no desire to assume the role
of Stephen King when describing things we might do here.”
Rodney Johnson, director of parent services, says parents are pleased
the University has committed even more resources for safety.
“Having him here to speak to incoming freshman parents this summer
will help ease their minds,” Johnson says. “He’s someone
I can go to so the Office of Parent Services is kept informed and so
we can inform parents in a timely and accurate way.”
In addition to crafting this plan, Petrie chairs a number of committees,
including one to examine and unify GW’s policies for prioritizing
and installing security and fire alarm systems. He also is working to
further define two levels within the University’s Crisis Plan —
an incident response team and the crisis team (GW’s senior leadership)
and how they provide information to offices such as Parent Services.
Petrie also has reached out to DC officials, meeting with Metropolitan
Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Terry Gainer. At a DC university
consortium meeting, Petrie and his peers met with Peter LaPorte, director
of the Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
The Call to Academia
While researching his dissertation, Petrie decided he wanted to work
in academia after his Navy career. He’s had plenty of exposure
to academic institutions: a degree from Villanova University; master
and doctoral degrees from the Fletcher School of Law in Boston; and
a graduate of the National and Naval war colleges. He was a professor
of national security policy and director of research at the National
War College. His writings have been published by the US Naval Institute,
Naval War College Review, Joint Force Quarterly, and the United Nations.
“I’ve spent my life
with young people,” Petrie says. “My ability to communicate
my ideas has been encouraged by those I’ve worked for before. There
are admirals and generals all over town who were my students. When I
was in Norfolk at one point, I had 12 ships on the waterfront that were
commanded by ‘Petrie-trained’ men.”
Petrie is looking for the opportunity to teach at GW. For this man,
the bottom line rests with never resisting the opportunity to help people.
“I spent 34-and-a-half years of my life working with good people
who were working hard trying to fulfill an oath,” Petrie says.
“For about the last one-third of that time, I was in a position
where I could make their lives better. I’ve been given that opportunity
again. Even if nothing ever happens here, I’ve been given an opportunity
to put us in a position where should something happen, we are better
prepared.”
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
