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SWAT Team Conducts School Bus Hostage Training
March 27, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the school district joined forces this week to conduct a hostage training exercise.
“We are here in conjunction with the school board; they’ve donated us a bus to practice on in case we ever had the situation where there was a hostage situation they recently had in Alabama,” Ted Roy said. “If we practice it, then hopefully if it ever happens we would be ready for it.”
“Events in the last few months forces all of us to take a second thought about how we can protect our valuable asset, our children,” Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said about school security. “So with the sheriff conducting exercises like he is doing today, it should increase confidence of our citizens that our students are going to be safe when you leave them in our care.”
Roy said the exercise allowed the SWAT team to become familiar with the school buses and look as positions the team might use in a real-life hostage scenario. With a plan in place, Roy said, the SWAT team can react faster.
Pictured: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team conducts a training exercise with an Escambia County School District bus. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
3 Responses to “SWAT Team Conducts School Bus Hostage Training”
Glad to see that they were training on an empty bus. Some Schools out west have trained with students on board a bus. Wrong way to do it if you ask me with students watching this. Hope they trained after school hours or a way from the school with the bus.
Great idea! Love it! How about some training for the drivers and teachers too?
Santa Rosa County deputies received this type of training in 2009. It’s good that other area agencies are getting on board with more specialized training before something leaves them unprepared.