Active Shooter Training by ASU Police for City Schools

ASU Police Host Active Shooter Training for School System Security Guards 

By Kenneth Mullinax/ASU 

In the spirit of CommUniversity (ASU offering resources and assistance to people and entities off campus), Alabama State University's Department of Public Safety, assisted by other law enforcement agencies, sponsored an "Active Shooter Emergency Response Training" on Aug. 7 for more than 90 Montgomery Public School System (MPS) security guards charged with safeguarding students and staff at each city school in Montgomery. The event was held in the auditorium of ASU's Ralph D. Abernathy College of Education. 

Joining ASU police in training the city schools’ security personnel were expert SWAT (tactical) and Gang Unit professionals from the Montgomery Police Department, who were supported by Montgomery CRIMESTOPPERS staff and The Council on Substance Abuse. 

"This type of police training is new for Alabama State, reaching out and conducting it for an outside group like the MPS security folks -- all in the spirit of President (Quinton) Ross's effort to provide CommUniversity whenever possible; but it is not new for the training that has been held on our campus for our own employees since we have had ongoing active shooter and emergency response training over the past years given separately to both our ASU police officers and also for our faculty and staff members, in the spirit of keeping our students and employees safe," said ASU Police Sergeant Kimberly Todd, who served as the training coordinator for the event. 

Todd said the goal of the training sessions was to help to prepare MPS officers to provide an immediate reaction in life-threatening situations and to assist them with having up-to-date safety plans based on proven tactics to safeguard MPS students and employees. 

RUN, HIDE, AND FIGHT; OBSERVE AND REPORT 

Todd said the officers were given instructions on how to best protect their campuses and were also updated with the latest tactic intended for staff and students that is titled “Run, Hide and Fight,” with the fighting aspect being a new alternative that is sometimes a necessary last resort when dangerous situations arise. 

"In the past, the safety efforts promoted were more passive than what we recommend today to security officials and for the people who are being attacked," Todd stated. "For example, in an active shooter event, time means lives, so once people have exhausted running and hiding from these shooters, we suggest fighting back with whatever is available, wherever the person is hiding, such as using a chair, a bottle, a hammer, a baseball bat, whatever one may find available where they are hiding -- use it to subdue the active shooter. When it comes to police training, we don't publicly disclose the tactics that we promote in our training so that the bad guys won't know what to expect; so all I can say publicly is that we now advocate that security and police get involved immediately in stopping the violence."  

Todd said the officers were also taught to advise students and school personnel of the best preventative measure known – the power of observation, keeping an eye on their surroundings and reporting suspicious and potentially dangerous people or situations to security and law enforcement officers. 

MPS THANKS ASU FOR CARING 

Dr. Celena Cutts-Day, the assistant chief of Security for MPS, was on hand for the training and expressed her appreciation for the University’s continuing efforts to help protect the school system’s students and staff. 

"The help we are receiving from Alabama State University is tremendous because it develops and shares with us strategies for most any adverse danger that could present itself on any of our campuses," Cutts-Day stated. "This effort, undertaken by both ASU and MPS, directly benefits our students throughout all grades and should give their parents a better peace of mind in knowing that the law enforcement safeguarding their children is working together with others to build relationships and safeguard our greatest assets, which are our children." 

News media contact: Kenneth Mullinax, 334-229-4104. 

###ASU###