In light of yesterday's shooting in Connecticut, I wanted to reaffirm the efforts the district and the city have undertaken to prepare for such an event here.
Such a scenario has two important components: emergency procedures by the district campuses and first-responder/active shooter procedures by police and emergency services. Although it is still too early to know for sure, in the Connecticut shooting, the casualties and the suicide by the shooter likely occurred before the first police officers were on scene. Some events spiral out of control before the best efforts of school and police officials are in place.
With the recently completed Joint Emergency Operations Plan (JEOP), plans and procedures are in place for such an event. All campuses now have similar plans that are understood district-wide. Contained in these plans are maps and building locations that are quickly accessible and clearly understood to mitigate confusion that is sure to exist at the outset. District officials understand what information our dispatchers and first-responders will need immediately so that rescue efforts are not delayed. At the first hint of trouble, teachers know to institute lockdown and communications procedures and subsequent evacuation routes and locations as necessary.
Our officers recently participated in a large-scale mutual aid exercise with an active-shooter scenario. We have also trained with school police departments on their respective campuses to enhance the reality of school grounds. Despite the location, active-shooter training uses very similar tactics. With lessons learned from the Columbine School shooting, law enforcement knows that immediate interdiction efforts are critical. That’s not to say that police will rush in without a plan in place. Our tactics and equipment are designed for immediate response and deployment. Supervisors and officers know their roles from the outset and understand the objective. Because we train with our neighboring police and fire departments for such events, we are confident that the arriving personnel can be deployed immediately. Quick response and Emergency Medical Services on scene are critical. Unarmed firefighters and paramedics must know that their safety is ensured while they tend to the injured.
Although there are never any assurances that we can stop such an event before it starts, the training and preparations we have taken will help to lessen the danger such events pose to our children.
