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Town Talk: ALICE training in NU schools

On April 20th, 1999 two students entered Columbine High School and opened fire, killing 13 students and teachers. At the time this was one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. This was a pivotal day for schools, law enforcement agencies, and the nation as a whole. The lessons learned from this tragedy sparked a change in the way schools and law enforcement respond to incidents like this.

Schools began adopting policies for “active shooters” or “armed intruders.” Initially the schools trained their staff and students to remain in their classrooms, lock the doors, and try to hide within the room. This is known as the traditional LOCKDOWN response and is still used by many schools today. Unfortunately, events like the Virginia Tech Massacre, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Red Lake Senior High School shooting and school shootings, that this method was not enough.

The New Ulm Police Department, working with the Brown County Sheriff’s Office and the Sleepy Eye Police Department wanted to do more to keep our schools safe. Officers from each agency attended training put on by the ALICE TRAINING INSTITUTE. The ALICE TRAINING INSTITUTE was founded in the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy with the mission to give students and teachers the knowledge, tools and options that can better their chances of surviving an incident like this. ALICE is an acronym that stands for ALERT, LOCKDOWN, INFORM, COUNTER and EVACUATE. This is a similar thought process to the one recommended by Homeland Security called Run-Hide-Fight.

Officers learned during the training, the goal is to give students and teachers the freedom to make the best decision, based on their immediate circumstance, for their survival. ALICE is not a hard and fast blueprint of what to do, it is more of a toolbox full of options that students and staff can use to aid in their survival. The ALICE Training Institute instructors stressed that every situation is different, and that every school is different as well. These are basic steps that the schools can take to help themselves while waiting for law enforcement to arrive. Officers were shown several demonstrations on how to teach students to barricade (LOCKDOWN) their classroom quickly and easily. Officers learned drills on getting everyone out of the building (EVACUATE) and sharing information with the rest of the school, and law enforcement (INFORM).

Another aspect of the ALICE Training is the COUNTER. Several scenarios were run where the students and teachers threw different objects to distract the shooter, and how students were able to take the shooter to the ground. This was not a fighting class or some fancy martial arts training, this was people doing anything they can to disrupt the shooter, buying time for others to escape.

At the start of the 2016-2017 school year local law enforcement officers began training most parochial and public professional educators using the ALICE response to an Active Shooter. Some were apprehensive at first, they were used to the traditional lockdown drills they had been doing for years. Officers ran drills with the teachers using the old lockdown method and drills using the ALICE method. When asked to compare the traditional lockdown response to the ALICE response, the teachers said that they preferred the ALICE response. Teachers providing feedback said it gave them options, like being able to evacuate if safe to do so, being able to barricade their classroom and use alternative exits. They liked the fact that they could counter the shooter, to take action, to protect their students.

Another aspect of the ALICE Training that the teachers liked was that the training was age appropriate. The way the high school students are trained is not the same way that the kindergarteners are trained. When asked how they felt after attending the training, the teachers used words like “empowered”, “confident”, and “safer.” The staff said that they felt better knowing that they could do “something” to help themselves. That statement has become a staple of the training, when in doubt DO SOMETHING. In the unlikely event something like this happens, HAVE A PLAN, have some idea in place for what you would do.

Based on the positive response we received from the schools, local law enforcement have expanded this training to businesses, churches, daycare centers, medical facilities, city and county buildings, assisted living centers, and others. The ideas and concepts learned in this type of training are lifelong skills and can be used anywhere. At a movie theater, at the mall, an airport, anywhere you may find yourself.

Officers that put on these trainings believe in this program, and believe it can help save lives. Have a plan, be willing to do what you need to do to keep you and your family safe.

Editor’s Note: The City of New Ulm presents a weekly column highlighting activities in different departments in the city government. Once a month the city will answer questions from readers. Questions on New Ulm city issues can be sent to comments@ci.new-ulm.mn.us.

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