On August 9th and 10th of this year the Hiawatha Police Department conducted A.L.i.C.E, training with the staff of USD 415. A.L.i.C.E. is a civilian response to an active incident to which active shootings are an example. A.L.i.C.E. is designed to give each participant, whether it is an employee at a business, attendees at a school, or anyone at any location they happen to be at when an incident takes place; the choice to decide what is the best response for that individual.
The method used for preparing for these situations in the past in regards to the school setting has been to lock the doors and wait for the threat to pass. This is a passive response to the situation and has shown to be ineffective in reducing the number of casualties. A.L.i.C.E. is an active response where each person chooses what action to take to save their own lives. Some examples of these actions are to not only lock-down, but to barricade the door or area you are in; to evacuate by any available avenue as fast as possible; and in some circumstances if chosen, to counter (not fight) the attacker by simple and quick actions to distract them from their goal. The ultimate goal is to deter the attack so much that they move beyond you to another area or to completely remove yourself from the area of danger.
While some methods, paths taken or chosen, or decisions may have their own element of danger for injury, living takes precedent over less critical possible injuries.
The end goal is to minimize casualties of these terrible situations. The staff at USD 415 has participated in this training....the time has now come to demonstrate these options to the students.
On October 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th, 2018 Officer Brandon Lowe and I will be in all three schools working with all students pre-k through 12th grade. The training will be tailored depending on the ages of the students. Considerations will also be made for students who have mental or physical disabilities that would limit their participation; however, I would still like to encourage parents that participation to the extent possible for their child is in everyone's best interest to keep their safety at the highest possible level.
If you have questions regarding this training or have concerns about your child and their participation, I encourage you to contact Superintendent Moser, or myself. Your children and this community's safety is all of our concern.
Captain Dennis Entrikin #301 Hiawatha Police Department 785-742-2156 dentrikin@cityofhiawatha.org
Superintendent Lonnie Moser USD 415 785-742-2266 Imoser@usd415.org