Law enforcement agencies conduct session at SBHS over break
The mostly empty campus at San Benito High School became a
training ground Tuesday for local authorities, who conducted a
session to familiarize officers with possible
”
active shooter
”
scenarios and how to react.
Law enforcement agencies conduct session at SBHS over break
The mostly empty campus at San Benito High School became a training ground Tuesday for local authorities, who conducted a session to familiarize officers with possible “active shooter” scenarios and how to react.
About 20 officers from area agencies – including the sheriff’s office, police department, highway patrol and parks and recreation department – gathered at the school and broke down into smaller groups. Carrying unloaded weapons, they acted out how they would approach such a situation in different areas of campus, both outside and inside.
“An active shooter is someone who’s actually engaging innocent people,” said Sgt. Kelly Burbank of the county sheriff’s office, who led one of the teams.
Such exercises have become more common throughout the country in light of several school shootings over the past two decades, and the sheriff’s office has conducted one annually at the high school in recent years.
Undersheriff Pat Turturici said the office also hopes to expand the training operations to include other places many people might gather such as the courthouse. He noted how over the past few years, the sheriff’s office has become “really proactive” about training deputies for varying events.
“In this day and age, there is more violence,” Turturici said, as an impetus for conducting such training and other emergency preparedness sessions organized locally.
Spring break at the school this week gave local authorities the chance to use the campus for their active shooter training.
Burbank’s group and others started off in the grassy area at the center of campus. The main drill involved two officers staying put and holding their weapons, while ready as cover, for two others who moved ahead over an unobstructed area. Those officers then stopped and covered for the others so they also could advance toward the threat.
They acted out how to get around objects and buildings safely while moving ahead and around corners – the point being to have someone watching every direction where a potential threat could be located.
Inside the high school, the teams broke off and again examined how to best move throughout the building – up staircases, entering and inside the auditorium, in the main office area, in classrooms and around a multitude of corners.
“Communication is the most important part of all of this,” Burbank told his group.
