By Karen Cornelius
Not a month goes by that doesn’t chronicle an active shooter incident in the news whether it is an alleged terrorist or a mentally disturbed person. In order to survive and optimize safety, there are plans and programs in place across the country for schools, airports, and other institutions. One such program is called ALICE to respond to an active shooter situation. ALICE stands for Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate.
ALICE is used in the Vermilion Local Schools and school districts across the country. It’s a federal Homeland Security Department program used as a defense if and when a gunman enters a building, a sporting event, or entertainment arena. Currently, this training is going across the board to be used in workplace settings such as businesses, corporations, city halls, and hospitals. The Vermilion Police Department would like to invite the community businesses, parents, school teachers and staff, public officials, churches, and other interested members of the public and those in the area to learn more about ALICE.
Vermilion School Resource Officer Brian Beckwith will be conducting this training at Vermilion High School on Thursday, August 17, from 9 to 11 a.m. and again on Friday, August 18, from 4 to 6 p.m. to make it convenient for most people’s schedules. He will be teaching some survival tools to maximize people’s safety when confronted with an active shooter situation. According to Beckwith, maximizing your survival is training no one will forget, it carries on through life. Beckwith stated there are “zero” necessary skills to attend and no physical defensive training so this is open to everyone.
It would be helpful, but not required, to pre-register, especially if there are groups who would like to come for the sessions. Those interested can call the police station at 967-6116 and indicate to the dispatcher how many people are coming.
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