"Intruder drill" leaves teachers shaken

[KBCraig]

This would be a very bad idea in Harrold ISD.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/today/i ... es_ph.html

'Scary' intruder drill leaves Phillipsburg teachers upset, district officials assured
Posted by ppetty August 30, 2008 00:15AM

Teachers unwittingly participated in a hostile intruder drill Friday at the Phillipsburg Early Childhood Learning Center. Phillipsburg police Chief Edward Mirenda, inset left, and Phillipsburg School District acting Superintendent George Chando were pleased with the drill's outcome. Some teachers, meanwhile, were upset by the drill.
A group of elementary teachers gathered for a workshop at Phillipsburg Early Childhood Learning Center got a shock Friday when a gunman burst into the facility library.

The man, yelling obscenities, squeezed off several shots, prompting those present to run for cover and pray for their lives.

They found out later that the gunman was an actor and the shots fired were blanks, both part of a "hostile intruder drill" organized by the Phillipsburg School District and police department.

"The only reason it was not the scariest day of my life was because it wasn't real," said a teacher, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Acting Superintendent George Chando said teachers performed well during the drill.

The teachers had been trained how to react in such a circumstance and used what they learned effectively during the exercise, Chando said.

"It was done as a means of assessing the security readiness," he said. "I cannot give the teachers enough credit."

Town police Chief Edward Mirenda also praised teachers' performance, saying, "Teachers did a great job and reacted as they were trained."

Teachers weren't as pleased with how the drill turned out.

One said, "If I was told it was drill, I would still have followed protocol.Why did we have to think that it was the end of our lives?"

Have you ever participated in a hostile intruder drill? Do you think they're safe? Post a comment.

[DocNTexas]

WOW! I see lots of room for legal liability for such a stunt. I will be surprised if the school district is not sued by some teacher claiming post traumatic stress or at least for their cleaning bill. Secondly, what would have happened if one of the teachers had suffered a heart attack or such? Or if one of the teachers had been armed and had shot the actor gunman in self defense? While they may have been guilty of carrying the gun on school property, the shooting would have been justified. I say this rates up there with No-Knock raids.

Doc

[boomerang]

Too bad nobody shot him or stabbed him or even threw a heavy object with sharp edges at him.

[glockowner]

That's insane, I would have been mad.

[KD5NRH]

Secondly, what would have happened if one of the teachers had suffered a heart attack or such?

Or been seriously injured trying to dive through a window...it mentions they reacted as trained, after it says they all ran and hid, so presumably that was what they were trained to do. One wonders what other result they could have expected from such a drill.

[dehalter]

WOW!?!?!?! This sounds like a bad idea. I am glad the "actor" did not get shot.

[longtooth]

We have agreed at the church to start drills such as this. We also know the drills will be anounced & then stated at the time. This is a drill.
If the real thing happens some day. This is no drill,

Stupid cant be fixed.

[Excaliber]

I'm not usually at a loss for words, but I'm struggling to find the right adjectives for this unannounced drill simulating a highly traumatic event of this nature, especially using a high level of realism with people who had not been told there was going to be a drill.

Wildly irresponsible, reckless, boneheaded, and cruel come to mind first, but don't come close to fully describing what happened.

Better procedure testing and training value could have been achieved by pre announcing the nature of the event with basic details of how it would be carried out (including the clothing the actor would be wearing and a clearly non gun cap firing pistol) and giving a time window within which the drill would be conducted.

IMHO, both of the administrators involved should be disciplined and an apology is owed to the teachers (and students / parents if any were present during the drill).

[Purplehood]

Unannounced drills do not work with Civilians...I am surprised that Murphy's Law didn't rear its ugly-head and bite someone in the behind.

[txflyer]

One word for those administrators: MORONS!

[bryang]

What a shock! That is the craziest thing I have ever heard of.

-geo

[KaiserB]

Unannounced drills do not work with Civilians...I am surprised that Murphy's Law didn't rear its ugly-head and bite someone in the behind.

It does when the response the "testers" want in a drill or an emergency is for the "respondent" to lay down and comply with the bad guy.

Think Sheeple Society

[Wildscar]

WOW!?!?!?! This sounds like a bad idea. I am glad the "actor" did not get shot.

That can't happen in a Gun Free area dont ya know.

[DoubleJ]

If nothing else, someone could have gotten some hearing damage.
They'da had to convince me it was drill, while I was *drilling* the guy doing the shewtin'!

[phddan]

Well that was plumb dumb!!!!

Quite a few people have realized that laying down and giving up is not the thing to do. Those moron administrators are very lucky blood wasn't spilled that day. Very lucky indeed.

Dan