DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Students and teachers are not the only ones preparing for the new school year.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies were also getting ready as they began active shooter training at Deerfield Beach High School, Thursday.
The training will make sure law enforcement are ready to tackle any potential threats, as the school year begins next week.
A BSO trainer showed deputies exactly what to do when entering a school with an active shooter.
Command deputies simulated their parts during the training.
“You will see our managerial staff, our captains working on the outside, coordinating, coordinating with the school, coordinating with the medical personnel,” Sheriff Gregory Tony said.
Throughout the day, deputies will be running realistic simulations at the high school with an emphasis on communication, which includes all parties that would be involved in an active shooter situation at a school.
Tony said that much of this came from learning from other active shooter incidents that have happened around the country.
“Including that of the most tragic shooting that we’ve seen in the United States over in Uvalde, Texas,” Tony said. “When you start to dissect them, it was the failure of that integrated training that created the shortcomings into how they were supposed to respond.”
“We want to know that the right hand and the left hand are talking to another,” said Dr. Vickie Cartwright, Broward County Public Schools superintendent.
Meanwhile, Cartwright said procedural changes are happening in the schools, which include random hand-held metal detector searches for students grade eight through 12.
“And it’s a computerized system, so it selects the schools as well as the classrooms, that way it is very random,” Cartwright said.
“So, to our parents, we’re not dropping the ball on any investigative practices. We’re all trained and prepared. We have the necessary tools and equipment, and I expect and demand that every single one that wears this star on their chest, should we encounter another shooting, that they get in there and put this threat down instantly,” Tony said.
According to Tony, BSO is the only organization in all of the U.S. to have all of its active shooter certifications from the Department of Homeland Security.
The simulated training at Deerfield Beach High School will continue for the next couple of hours, but officials told 7News that active shooter training will be continuous throughout the entire school year.
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