KSP Safe Schools Active Shooter Survival Program

Several months ago I formed a Safe Schools Committee comprised of some of our best trainers, tactical personnel, researchers and media advisors. The purpose of the Committee was to examine our current practices and to equip our school personnel with the tools, resources and training needed to handle an active shooter incident. Our efforts also included how to detect early warning signs that could possibly stop an incident before it becomes active and to continually develop and look at best practices from around the country. This included refresher training for our agency’s response to active shooter situations. Ultimately, the Committee involved our external partners from various school districts and local law enforcement agencies. Earlier this month, over seventy troopers participated in a ten hour block of Active Shooter Survival Training. This internal component is intended to instruct school teachers and administrators on how to respond and provide them options in the event of an attack. Each post has a designated school safety coordinator that will help coordinate and teach the school based training components. It became apparent that there is no “one size fits all” training model. Since each school has different needs and expectations regarding safety, our model involves four levels for principals and staff to choose from:

LEVEL 1: Our agency will provide on-site visits to the requesting school where a review of the schools current plan of action will be conducted and evaluated. Recommendations for school protocols, if requested by schools officials, will be provided. LEVEL 2: We will assist and participate in school ‘lock down’ drills. Provide feedback and additional information to school officials based on the ‘most likely’ police responses and needs. LEVEL 3: Provide an on-site visit and walk through assessing strengths and weaknesses of the facility. Provide target hardening information to school officials via the KSP multi-layered school security checklist. LEVEL 4: Provide a three-hour block of professional development training for school personnel designed to give options for consideration when facing an active shooter. Training will consist of classroom instruction along with the opportunity to take part in realistic scenarios to build their confidence to survive an active shooter incident. The training has already been utilized by school districts in western and eastern Kentucky and received extremely positive reviews. All of the Safe Schools Committee members are to be commended for their hard work and insight on this cutting edge program. To learn more about this initiative and the press conference held today, visit our website or click on the following link to watch the video explaining the program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oejg13JSLOk