(Provided photo-Megan Winter/Public Relations Specialist/GVBOCES/Perry/Warsaw Schools)
Five area police agencies in the GLOW region came together at Perry Elementary School on Thursday and Friday for 16 hours of emergency response training as part of the ALERRT Program.
Michael Grover, Chief of the Perry Police Department, organized the ALERRT training sessions locally in Perry. He says he wanted his department to be prepared and on the same page as all of the other officers in the area when they respond together to an emergency situation in their own jurisdiction and when assisting in others.
The ALERRT Program is a nationwide program that is considered the gold standard in active shooter response. Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training was created in 2002 as a partnership between Texas State University, the San Marcos, Texas Police Department and the Hays County, Texas County, Texas Sheriff’s Office.
“We have police departments from all over the GLOW region that are here, some are school resource officers, some are responding patrol officers. So, it’s good that we get on the same page about how school emergencies work, how we all are responding, the language being used, and the techniques being used, says,” Matt Masci, Instructor/Police Officer/Director of Safety & Security.
Thursday included classroom work and entry to a building. On Friday, participants trained with rubber guns, no live ammunition or firearms. Each officer was issued a simunitions firearm which use paint marker rounds. Officers experienced several different incident scenarios in the school setting.
(Provided photo-Megan Winter/Public Relations Specialist/GVBOCES/Perry/Warsaw Schools)
Instructors Matt Masci, Police Officer/Director of Safety & Security, and Scott Kelly Warsaw PD/SRO received training a year ago. Blake Russell of Perry PD, Zack Fleiss of Perry PD, and Andrew Hyman of Arcade PD, all received training in the ALERRT Program a few weeks ago at Warsaw Central Schools. The group passed on what they learned to the 20 officers who attended the two-day training on Thursday and Friday.
Police agencies from Arcade PD, Attica PD, LeRoy PD, Perry PD, and Warsaw PD participated.
“I would like to thank the school Superintendent Daryl McLaughlin and his staff for allowing us to run the training there,” says Perry Police Chief Michael Grover.
