Williamsburg Police bringing active shooter training to the city July 9-10

As more and more mass killings happen across not only the country but also the world, more and more people are asking what they should do in the event of a violent intruder or active shooter in their work place, school or house of worship.

Should they fight? Should they hide? Should they run?

A two-day instructor training this summer that is being done in conjunction with the Williamsburg Police Department, hopes to provide participants with proactive survival strategies they need to not only survive an active shooter situation but to also teach others how to survive such situations.

On July 9-10, the Williamsburg Police department and the Alice Training Institute are teaming up to provide ALICE Training Instructor Certification to Williamsburg through a course that will be held at the Williamsburg Convention Center.

“We law enforcement officers are trained to respond to active shooter situations. One of the areas we are not trained in is how to do we train our kids to know what to do in an active shooter situation,” said Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird. “Personally I think that is one of the areas where we are failing our kids and we are failing teachers. They need to know what to do and what they can do in that situation.”

Bird said he started looking for some kind of training to teach these situations, and came upon the ALICE Training Institute.

“I found the ALICE program, which is a nationally recognized training not only for schools, but for churches, businesses, you name it,” he added. “In businesses, churches, hospitals and schools people need to know things they can do to save their lives in an active shooter situation that is one of the reasons we decided to host the class.”

ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate and is a useful strategy for everyone: law enforcement, schools, universities, hospitals, businesses, and places of worship.

The goal of the ALICE program is to provide individuals with survival- enhancing options for those critical moments in the gap between when a violent situation begins and when law enforcement arrives on scene.

The $595 price tag for the training isn’t cheap, but Bird said he thinks it is worth it, so much so that he is sending four Williamsburg police officers through the program.

“I definitely think it is worth it given everything that is going on in today’s world. I think it is absolutely worth it,” he added.

Completing the ALICE Training Instructor Certification course provides individuals with certification in ALICE and allows them the opportunity to bring the strategies back to their places of work. Additionally, registrants will gain access to exclusive ALICE resources.

ALICE is in line with recommendations from Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Emergency Management Agency, White House, Department of Education, Federal Bureau of Investigation and some federal and state agencies.

For more information contact the Williamsburg Police Department at 549-6087.