Lifesaving school safety training

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — In the wake of the unspeakable mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is reminding Ohio school officials that his office provides resources designed to help prevent such violence before it happens.

“Prevention training saves lives,” Yost said. “We help educate the men and women who wear the badge to recognize and defuse catastrophes before more families are devastated.”

As part of ongoing efforts by the Attorney General’s Office to improve school safety, the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) has developed a course called Single Officer

Response to Active Threat (SORAT), designed for school resource officers and instructors from law enforcement agencies.

The office also awards grants to schools for use across an array of areas to enhance student safety, including certification training for school resource officers, active-shooter or school safety training or equipment, and training to identify and assist students with mental health issues. The school safety fund has about $5.4 million remaining. More than 1,000 Ohio law enforcement agencies and 100 schools have taken advantage of the program.

In addition, the Attorney General’s Ohio School

Threat Assessment Training Program continues to teach law enforcement officers and school officials how to recognize and act on behavioral warning signs before they lead to violence. Funding is still available for school resource and DARE officers who wish to complete the training. AG Yost encourages all law enforcement officers to complete the training; to date, 2,200 officers have done so.

Since 2020, the Attorney General's Office has provided a combined $1 million in grant funding for Ohio law enforcement for taking Ohio School Threat Assessment Training and conduct vulnerability assessments on school buildings.