UVALDE, Texas (KXAN) — The Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers has thrust the topics of school resource officer training and campus security back into the spotlight.
“If you hear gunshots, that’s the potential that people are dying,” said Richard Bryan, a law enforcement training instructor who conducted a state-mandated active shooter training session for Uvalde CISD police in 2020. He couldn’t comment on the response to the shooting itself, but provided insight into the training he conducted.
“In that training I talk about communication between officers arriving on scene, between those officers and a dispatcher, communication between the varying agencies,” Bryan said, who added that most districts and municipal police departments had additional training sessions through other organizations.
He said the training also included distinguishing between barricaded subject and active shooter scenarios, and how to stick to protocol in an intense environment.
“It’s a very fluid situation. It can go from active shooter, to barricaded subject, back to active shooter,” he said. “Yes it’s volatile, yes it’s scary, but sometimes we have to slow our brains down in order to process the information so we do not mess it up.”
The chaos of a critical incident is also something security companies — like San Antonio-based BPS Security — are concerned about, especially when it comes to school employees who don’t have day-to-day experience with responding to emergencies.
“They’re all over the place because human emotion comes into play,” said BPS Security CEO Glen Bhimani.
That’s why he recommends schools implement technology for simple lockdown procedures.
“There’s a button that sends the system into a lockdown mode so none of the doors can open at that point unless you’re on the inside,” he said.
Security group offering free school consultations, labor following Uvalde shooting
The tragedy in Uvalde has weighed heavy on Bhimani.
“Very saddening,” he said.
BPS Security wants to offer free help to schools and districts
“We want to offer free help in regards to a security inspection, so we know where they’re lacking in security — whether its people or technology,” Bhimani said. “And we’re offering free labor to the schools to install it because the biggest portion is labor when it comes to expenses.”
He recommends schools implement a simple lockdown system, so if chaos strikes — there’s a swift, single-step mode of protection.
“At my daughter’s school there’s a button that sends the system into a lockdown mode so none of the doors can open unless you’re on the inside,” he said, adding that this can eliminate errors due to high stress or panic. “They’re all over the place because human emotion comes into play and they don’t follow the proper procedures like they’re supposed to.”
Any schools interested can call BPS Security at (210) 996-1686 and ask for Glen directly.
Credit: Source link
