In response to the Florida shooting the University Police Department has required a new training protocol for their officers and administrators.
The three-day training is provided by the ALLERT system on campus. That will prepare officers as first responders if any active shooting situations were to arise. Rather than having officers wait for a SWAT they will be properly trained to prevent any further source of danger.
Pete Blair, Executive Director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training at Texas State, will be helping the university in training the administrators through their civilian response program.
“The training for administrators is different than the one for police officers. Whereas officers will be trained with arms and how to respond to medical emergencies, the civilian response program uses our Avoid, Deny, Defend program,” Blair said.
The Avoid, Deny, Defend program is a three step process civilians can use in case of an active shooter situation. The first step is to avoid the attacker and attempt to exit the building or area under threat. If that is not possible, the second thing to do is to deny access to your location, usually by barricading the area. If the attacker does succeed in entering the room, the final step is to be defend yourself in any way possible.
“I don’t see why you would not engage with the shooter. If someone is going to shoot you to death, I think you should at least try to defend yourself instead of just standing there,” Blair said.
Jose Bañales, UPD chief of police said the discussion for a program similar to this one has been brought up for over a year now. University police is attempting to set up a drill within the calendar year to simulate an active shooter situation. However, resources such as an available location for this to happen are still being discussed. In the meantime, UPD will be setting a table topic.
“This will be a controlled setting that will give stakeholders the opportunity to discuss how they would handle those situations and what they would do at that time,” Bañales said.
UPD is working to train members of university administration, in partnership with the San Marcos Police Department, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office and the Hays County Emergency Management. The dates are still unsure and will be discussed during the President’s Academic Advisory Committee.
Lisa Lloyd, special assistant to the president, confirmed the President’s Cabinet has yet to require the civilian response training to all administrators, faculty and staff.
“Safety and security is a top priority to the President’s Cabinet and is discussed quite often during Cabinet meetings,” Lloyd said. “We are truly committed to reviewing and strengthening safety procedures and protocols. Chief Bañales has recommended that some of our administrators undergo this training and identify other staff members to attend, as deemed appropriate. I, too, have plans to participate in this training.”