(Le Mars) — Columbine High School…Virginia Tech…San Bernadino…Aurora, Colorado Cineplex,… and Sandy Hook Elementary School. Each of these locations were the site of an active shooter or shooters, that walked into a facility and
started firing shots randomly, injuring and killing several dozen innocent people. Unfortunately, the mentioned scenario is becoming an all too common occurrence that we see on national news reports. The Le Mars Police Department wants to make certain if such an incident were to ever happen in Le Mars, people would know what to do. That is the reason why the Le Mars Police Department conducted an A.L.I.C.E. training session with city hall and library employees Tuesday afternoon. The training happened in the city council chambers. ALICE
stands for Alert…Lockdown…Inform…Counter…and Evaculate. The training session, according to Le Mars Police Chief Stuart Dekkenga, is to help empower people if they are ever involved in a threatening situation.
Dekkenga says people’s first reaction when they hear gun shots is to get down, but he says that may not be the best option.
During the training session, city employees were exposed to different scenarios when an unsuspecting intruder would enter the building and start shooting at people. Real guns with blanks, or an air gun that appeared to look real, and sounded like actual ammunition being fired was used in the training scenarios.
The Le Mars Police Chief suggests people need to use anything available to defend themselves against an active threat.
Dekkenga says the Le Mars Police Department has conducted the ALICE training for schools, businesses, and industries. He says an active shooting situation may happen at anyplace, and at anytime.
Dekkenga says people should think about the possible scenario, just as they do with a fire drill.
The Le Mars Police Chief suggests people should be prepared, which he calls a “constant state of awareness”. During the training exercise, a Le Mars Police officer shot off a few rounds of blank ammunition, but it wasn’t until about the third shot rang out that the city employees began to realize what was happening.
The Le Mars Police Department explained to the group that depending on where the incident may occur, and where the police are located within the city limits at the time of the incident, it may take at least ten minutes to respond.