Training preps locals for mass shooting - NWCTV 2013

Publication date 2013-06-11

"In the wake of recent mass casualty shootings, law enforcement and community members want to be ready for the next large-scale tragedy.

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office held an "active shooter" training session at the Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park Tuesday morning for a crowd of about 400 people. The group included law enforcement, educators, the faith community and elected officials.

Featured guest speakers at the event were Newtown, Conn., Police Chief Michael Kehoe and Oak Creek, Wis., police officer Sam Lenda. Both men spoke of their experiences in dealing with the chaos of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary and at a Sikh Temple respectively.

"Active shooters and mass casualties are more frequent in this country than any other country," said Chief Kehoe. "We have to be prepared for it as a society and as law enforcement officials to respond effectively and to try to prevent them."

The men stressed the need for law enforcement to be up-to-date on emergency response training to deal with the unpredictability of mass shootings. They also said it's important for schools, churches and other community sectors to be involved in drills and emergency preparedness discussions to help make prevention and response to crises easier.

"Planning, working with your local community partners definitely is important," said Dean Olsen, health and safety coordinator for the Osseo Area School District. "They did stress incident command and having people trained to work together especially in a large scale incident such as this because you'll have a lot of community partners trying to show up and work together."

While they said it's crucial to be ready to react to a shooting, Chief Kehoe and officer Lenda added that prevention is important to changing the tragic trend of mass shootings in the country.

"It is going to occur again, unfortunately, and until we change our society and culture and make some sacrifices," Kehoe said.

Renee Banot"