East Haven schools adopt new crisis training program

EAST HAVEN — Active shooter incidents can happen anywhere, from government buildings to schools to private businesses, members of the Police Department said during a recent presentation at East Haven High School.

Members of the police and fire departments presented a new training initiative — alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate, or ALICE — that the departments and school district will be adopting to be better prepared for such crisis situations.

ALICE differs from current strategies used in active shooter situations that usually involve hiding until the situation is deemed safe.

The first training for district students will begin at the end of the school year and resume in the fall, Superintendent of Schools Erica Forti said in a note to parents. Drills and practice will follow after all the students are trained, and families will be notified ahead of time so students do not think there is active danger at school, according to Forti.

Police said data from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security shows that 69 percent of incidents last five minutes or less, so the ALICE strategy is a way to bridge the gap until police arrive on scene.

“These techniques that we’re going to be instilling to our staff and students ... could be for a mall, it could be when you’re out to eat with your family, when you’re at a baseball game,” one presenter said. “We’re providing another tool for the toolbox of all of our staff, all of our students and hopefully they can retain that and use that, God forbid, if an incident happens.”

In the training, “alert” refers to situational awareness, such as being mindful of potential exits in a room or building. It also means trusting your gut, one police officer said. This includes using one’s five senses, especially hearing, when it comes to potential threats.

Police said people naturally try to normalize sounds and make sense of sounds when they hear them, such as thinking a gunshot could be a car backfiring. Instead, people should consider the reality that it could be a gunshot.

“Lockdown” occurs when people do not have the chance to evacuate, according to training documents. In lockdown, doors to rooms will be locked and anything that can be moved in the room, such as desks, chairs or bookshelves, will be placed in front of the door.

“Once the door is controlled, we want to spread out the way from the door and the windows,” officials said. “We’re not going to want to huddle in the corner ... or under the tables.”

The strategy is to be proactive instead of reactive and prepare for something happening instead of reacting once something does.

“Inform” means keeping people involved in the situation aware of what is happening using plain language as to avoid confusion, police said. An example would be using the public announcement system in the school to state that a shooter is in the cafeteria, giving students and staff on the other side of the building an opportunity to evacuate.

“Counter” does not mean fighting an armed individual, but rather creating distractions, and this element will not be taught to young students, officials said.

Instead of fighting, counter focuses on getting the shooter off their mission or goal, as a last resort. An example officials gave was throwing objects at the shooter so someone else can tackle them.

“Evacuation” is a major part of the training, as police want people to get out safely if possible. Students, especially younger ones, will not be trained to evacuate by themselves and the decision to move from a lockeddown space will be made by a teacher, police said.

“We don’t want them to sit in the classroom if they have a means of egress. Whether that’s run down the hallway and jump out of a window on the same level, we’re going to teach them to take moments of opportunity and get out of the building if it’s safe to do so,” one officer said.

Another aspect of evacuation that was stressed is leaving all belongings behind, because the only object worth anything in moments of crisis is a person’s life, officials said.

Once people evacuate the school building, they will head to established points where attendance will be taken to make sure all children are accounted for, police said.

All of East Haven Public Schools’ staff will receive ALICE training. Age-appropriate resources, such as a coloring book about safety for preschoolers and a short book called “I’m Not Scared...I’m Prepared!” is used for children up until third grade to teach them the training.

Forti said she initially was skeptical about the training but after going through the two-day training and hearing all the research, she went home and shared information about it with her own children.

The superintendent acknowledged that the information about school shootings can be overwhelming and emotionally sensitive, especially since they’re talking about children.

“I can tell you going through the two days of training, along with my administrators and my administrative team, there is no other way to handle this but this because it’s proven to save lives,” Forti said.