Training will Increase Awareness and Give Public Better Understanding of What to Expect
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is announcing an opportunity to teach community members on what to expect in the event of an active shooter incident. The course is free of charge, and takes about one hour to complete, allowing for questions and answers at the end. The course is instructor-led by trained, certified Madison County Sheriff’s Deputies in a classroom setting.
As a result of increased awareness to these tragedies, many citizens of Madison County have asked what individuals can do protect themselves and reduce the dangers faced during one of these events. Adopted from Texas State University and brought to you by the Office of the Sheriff of Madison County, this training will hopefully “fill the gaps” in your current safety plan.
It also explains what people should expect in these situations from law enforcement and other first-responding agencies. This intuitive plan for survival is broken down into three steps, detailed during the training.
“This training is not just for the workplace,” said Acting Sheriff John Ball. “It is critical that we get this out to community groups, churches and any other organization that would host it. As we’ve seen on the news, these horrifying incidents take place in shopping malls, theaters, hospitals and campuses, to name a few.
“If we are not proactive with our community when it comes to this, we are simply too late. This office is committed to doing everything possible to protect our community, its residents, our businesses and their employees and our visitors. We have to realize that our world is changing rapidly, and things we never thought of as being normal are, unfortunately, going to be normal now.
“I am deeply concerned with each and every incident taking place in our nation – mass shootings, civil unrest, chaos erupting at demonstrations. We are stronger when we work together as a community.”
Any organization or group that would like to host the free training should contact Deputy David Kroll, training officer for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, at (315) 366-2435 or david.kroll@madisoncounty.ny.gov. Requirements are a room that can accommodate the expected number participating, a table and power for a laptop and projector, and either a projection screen or flat wall for the training course. This information will also be posted on the Sheriff’s Office website at www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/sheriff.
A few public offerings are being scheduled now in areas around Madison County; those dates, times and locations will be announced in the near future.