By Karen Cornelius
Vermilion Police Department School Resource Officer Brian Beckwith will be offering training to anyone interested in learning more about ALICE, a program to respond to an active shooter situation. ALICE stands for Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate. The Vermilion Local Schools and other school districts across the country are now using this federal Homeland Security Department program as a defense if and when a gunman enters a school building.
Beckwith said ALICE is used in the schools for kindergarten through twelfth grade. The goal is to keep students safe, notify 911 and get out of the building if possible. Depending on the situation, an important component is to fight with anything available, such as throwing objects at the shooter to distract and confuse that person from continuing to shoot.
School resource officer Beckwith is inviting the public, parents, businesses, churches, government officials, and other interested parties to attend because now this ALICE training is going across the board to be used in workplace settings along with the schools such as businesses and corporations, city halls, and hospitals. There will be a training session on Thursday, August 17, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Vermilion High School. An evening training is scheduled on Friday, August 18, from 4-6 p.m. More details will follow at a later date. Mark your calendars now for this learning opportunity in August.
vermilionphotojournalonline.com 