SMPD Police Chief: 2015 ALERRT Conference

The 2015 ALERRT Conference held November 1-4 in San Marcos, Texas is in the history books. ALERRT Conference Coordinator Terry Nichols said, “We welcomed fire, police and EMTs from 37 states and four countries, had a larger vendor show than ever before, as well as amazing cadre of speakers and trainers. Our ALERRT staff performed stellar duty preparing and staffing the conference.” From Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) at Texas State University, November Newsletter, Vol. 1, No 7.

Corridor News attended the ALERRT Training Conference on Tuesday November 3, 2015 alongside law enforcement officers and emergency personnel from all corners of the country. Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, originated at Texas State University, and presented the most proficient response training on active shooter situations.

Dr. Pete Blair the nation’s leading expert in active shooter events and response, began his presentation by introducing unknown victims of the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary, highlighting the objective of the conference-to shift focus from villainous shooters to the heroes and victims in crisis situations.

The emphasis of the training was on the Don’t Name Them, No Notoriety, and I Love U Guys campaigns. These campaigns partnered to educate law enforcement and the media on proper handling of the ever increasing number of mass shootings.

Dr. Blair featured a rolling map illustrating the increasing numbers of shootings, and the number of shots taken: 179 events from east coast to west coast from 2000-2014 with a linear increase 18 attacks per year over the last 5 years.

The data showed 96% of shooters are male, who identify themselves as Alpha males, who feel they have been wronged, with particular gripe or grievance varying, no universal demographic profile, all connected to their target environments, and are found in every type of environment from rural, urban to suburban.

With so much empirical data for law enforcement to utilize, ALERRT training has spread like wildfire.

Our own San Marcos Police Chief, Chase Stapp, spoke with Corridor News stating, San Marco Police Department is the agency with direct reach into ALERRT due to its origination at Texas State, and all of our officer have attended ALERRT basic training with another portion also certified in advanced training.

Chief Stapp remarked, ‘We have been fortunate enough not to experience a situation such as this…but we are trained and ready. The success of these campaigns relies on the partnership between law enforcement and the media…I think we have a pretty good relationship here with our media.”

The burden of information, details, video footage, and photos law enforcement and emergency personnel have to stomach is immense. With an out of sight, out of mind mentality for the mass majority, Corridor News would like to remind our fellow San Martians, (yes, that is actually what we are called) that our Fire, EMS, and Police officers volunteered for these professions as protectors of our community, our families; and should we ever find ourselves on Dr. Blair’s data map it is these professional heroes we will call on.