While there haven’t been nearly as many mass shootings in American schools as some would have you believe, there have been enough to compel special training to handle such situations. Peter Arredondo, the police chief who many claim is responsible for holding back officers from responding quickly to the Uvalde massacre, completed such a course last December. He had completed the same course the year before.
Apparently, he ignored what he was taught.
According to NBC News:
The first unit aims to teach participants about how school shootings in recent decades — including the massacres at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 — influenced “law enforcement response tactics.”
The second unit lays out “priorities” for responding officers, and states: “First responders to the active shooter scene will usually be required to place themselves in harm’s way and display uncommon acts of courage to save the innocent. First responders must understand and accept the role of ‘Protector’ and be prepared to meet violence with controlled aggression.”
The third unit is titled “Stop the Killing.” The fifth unit is titled “Stop the Dying.”
“Time is the number one enemy during active shooter response,” the curriculum states. “The short duration and high casualty rates produced by these events requires immediate response to reduce the loss of life.”
Some reports have indicated the chief did not believe there was an active shooter situation despite the fact that kids were calling 911 while police were being forced to wait outside. The chief allegedly waited for keys in order to enter the building.
It’s impossible to know how many lives could have been saved if the police response was rapid and decisive.
