An Active Shooter workshop was conducted on November 1 at Burlington College’s research facility located in Colchester. The FBI Albany Field Office and the University of Vermont jointly conducted the training activity.
Personnel from law enforcement, emergency response and even the education fraternity were in attendance. The objective of the session was to revisit strategies to be employed during a crisis situation involving active shooters.
The tabletop exercise familiarized participants from different associations with the various techniques and strategies that can be employed in situations that call for quick decision making and incisive action.
The workshop lasted for four hours. While the session was kept confidential throughout, the first quarter hour was given media coverage in a bid to spread awareness amongst citizens.
A brief overview covered major active shooter incidents across 40 to 50 states in the country from the turn of the millennium until five years ago – more than ten incidents annually.
Tabletop exercises are gaining momentum across the country in an effort to keep citizens better prepared against potentially dangerous situations that can have dire consequences. Law enforcement agencies are also collaborating actively with medical teams and acquiring the necessary training in first aid to curb the number of fatalities during such incidents.
The participants in the tabletop exercise hailed from various law enforcement and educational institutions such as:
- Burlington Police
- Winooski Police
- UVM Police
- EMS services
- S. Customs and Border Protection
- Vermont State Police
- Saint Michael’s College
- Norwich University
- Vermont Intelligence Center
- S. Attorney’s office