Thoughts on Florida Shooting & Active Shooter Police Excercises

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Seeing photos of the victims of the Florida school shooting is heart wrenching. My heart goes out to the families and friends of the loved ones who died. Such beautiful young people taken away by the act of one person, obviously troubled and obviously equipped with a military-grade weapon that no civilian in our society needs or should possess.
What happened in Florida reminded me that the San Leandro Police Department, 5 years, ago conducted a major active shooter exercise at San Leandro High School in coordination with the school district, Alameda County Fire Department and Paramedics Plus. Subsequently, the police department undertook a similar exercise at the Bayfair Mall.
I had advocated that the police department undertake mock active shooter exercises. At the time, some in the community criticized me for supporting these exercises because, they claimed, these were such rare events that it was a waste of city money to train for them.
Today, mass killings have sadly become part of the American experience. Since a gunman killed 20 first graders and six adults with an assault rifle at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, there have been at least 239 school shootings nationwide, resulting in 138 deaths. 
Cadets at the police academies are trained on how to respond to an active shooter. Our police department throughout the year reviews procedures and studies how other departments handled such situations as they occur.
Here is a video clip of the 2013 exercise at San Leandro High School: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aox-bWoeBxk

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