AUSTIN, Texas — With school about to start, we’re looking at all the ways law enforcement is preparing to keep your kids safe.
One method Gov. Greg Abbott wants districts to use is an active shooter response training called Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT). It has been called the national standard by the FBI.
A report by the House Investigative Committee on the Robb Elementary Shooting details some of the core concepts of the ALERRT training.
One lesson from the ALERRT training is that law enforcement officers need to be prepared to prioritize the lives of innocent civilians over their own.
Communication is also vital. ALERRT training maintains that law enforcement should have a regional plan, and if their radios don’t work, they should communicate anyway, like by using runners, and they should make sure their message was received.
On entry into an active shooter situation, law enforcement should try to get a key, unless it’s not readily available – in that case, they should enter the area by using tools like sledgehammers.
Law enforcement should form a team and enter, but if there is only one law enforcement officer, then he or she should enter anyway.
The first law enforcement officer should give a report on where the officer is, what he or she sees on arrival, what he or she plans on doing and what he or she needs to complete the mission.
The first goal is to eliminate the threat, then provide medical care to the wounded.
The hopes are that some of these protocols can prevent another law enforcement failure like the one in Uvalde.
Tanvi Varma on social media: Twitter
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: