Teachers, administrators receive active shooter training

By Amy Lange
Fox 2 News

WATERFORD, Mich. (WJBK) -- "The school district and the police department are stepping up their security issues with the schools," says Shelby Township Police Chief Roland Woelkers.

The chief is partnering with Utica Schools.  Instead of one, now there will be two full-time police liaison officers for the two high schools, two middle schools and eight elementary schools there.  All officers are spending down time at the schools.

"All our officers are now carrying patrol rifles so that they have them available in the car.  So if they have to respond to an active shooter anywhere, but at a school or at a mall or something like that, they're prepared," Woelkers adds.

In Oakland County, teachers, school administrators and staff were at a training seminar Thursday listening to another teacher's frantic 9-1-1 call during the massacre at Columbine.

"The information they get out of this is going to help them at their workplace, as well as any other place that they find themselves in public -- in a theater or in a shopping mall," says Ted Quisenberry with Oakland County Homeland Security.

Quisenberry was meeting with the people responsible for not only educating our children, but keeping them safe at school.
In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut the seminar is a scary topic -- what to do if an active shooter is on the grounds.

"Where could you go as a second or a third way to get out of there?  Where could you hide to avoid detection?" Quisenberry explains.

Training hopefully they will never need, but need to know.

"Our teachers do so much more now than deliver high quality education.  Now attending things like this, we're looking at protecting the lives of our students," says Michelle Dejaeger with Royal Oak Schools.

"I work with 125 adults and I'm responsible for 1,700 kids each day, so that's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to take this back to school and work with my staff and my students," says Waterford Mott High School Assistant Principal David Lessel.

In Bloomfield Hills, they are working with Bloomfield Township Police to hire a school security officer.  That person's job will be safety, training, drills and working with the school liaison officers.

Meanwhile at the active shooter training session, the goal was deadly serious.  Take every precaution to protect the students and to save lives.

"We know that we can never be positive that this will never happen again, but we can be prepared," Dejaeger says.