CLAYTON, Mo. – The Clayton Police Department conducted active shooter training Saturday at Wydown Middle School, just weeks before families prepare for the start of the school year.
The police department collaborated with the Clayton Fire Department and the Clayton School District. Officers say this training comes in addition to the active shooter training they do regularly.
“It’s important that we work out all of the bugs in a situation like this,” said Battalion Chief Ryan Harrell with the Clayton Fire Department. “Because if an incident were to happen like this, that’s not the time for us to try and figure out how we’re going to communicate, how we’re going to collaborate, how we’re going to work together on these types of things.”
Clayton’s entire fire and police departments were involved in Saturday’s training. They also train regionally with other fire and police departments.
“We’ve been doing this weekly while our officers and firefighters are on-duty so that we’re not trying to deal with manpower issues,” said Corporal Jenny Schwartz with the Clayton Police Department. “We’re doing this as if a call were to come in while you’re on duty.”
Clayton police said keeping children safe is of paramount importance to their mission, and they will continue to train and prepare for any circumstance.
“It’s important for us to do a reality-based scenario. It’s something that we could face in real life. We’re adding in that stressful element where your heart rate goes up, you’re trying to work through something that you don’t deal with on an everyday basis,” said Schwartz.
“The fire department and the police department are dispatched independently. The police department’s priority will be to neutralize the threat and to gain control of the situation. To that end, we are going to in the background setting up a command structure and medical for when it is ready,” said Harrell.
Once police have neutralized the threat, the fire department comes in for treatment and evacuation.
They also said it’s important to make sure they are staying in communication effectively, internally and externally with the community, and working collaboratively together and understanding their roles and responsibilities.