DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Two South Florida law enforcement agencies are making sure they ready to respond to any emergencies on campus as the school year is set to start.
On Thursday, Doral Police hosted a training exercise at Downtown Doral Upper Charter School, located at 7905 NW 53rd St.
To prevent any potential dangers, police need to train for mass casualty events.
“We are not immune to these types of incidents,” said Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez.
The reenactments are done in a realistic manner to better prepare officers.
“With just about one week away from the start of the school year, it’s imperative that our police officers are equipped and trained on how to respond during a critical incident, Lopez said.”
The drills at the school also focused on how different agencies and the school administration would work together as quickly as possible.
“First, we want to stop the killing, second we want to stop the dying and third, we want to make sure the injured are evacuated and put in the hands of fire rescue as quickly as possible,” Lopez said.
Chief Lopez wants to ensure parents that his officers are trained and that the first officer or school resource officer on scene must respond to any threats.
“We’ve learned from critical incidents across the country that every second matters and our officers are trained to put their life on the line,” Lopez said.
But it’s not just about how law enforcement prepares. Chief Lopez is also reminding parents about their roles in preventing tragedies.
“Please have those conversations with your children about keeping school safe,” Lopez said. “About responsible utilization of social media platforms and have those conversations about hoax threats, and any threats whatsoever that occur over social media throughout the school year.”
Over in Broward County, the Broward Sheriff’s Office conducted their training at Cypress Bay High School, located at 18600 Vista Park Blvd.
“Active shooter events in general, there’s a two-prong mission; the first of which is to stop the killing and then the second, is to stop the dying,” said Sheriff Gregory Tony.
7News cameras captured students that wore prop makeup to help deputies train effectively.
“Over the next few days, we have roughly 70 of our SRO’s who are actively engaged in this training as they continue to push the envelope, explore our weaknesses and correct those weakness,” Tony said.
“My daughter Alyssa was in room 1216, and unfortunately, she didn’t make it out that day on Valentine’s Day,” said Broward School Board member Lori Alhadeff. “And knowing to see here, that there is training going on, knowing that we can learn from the errors and mistakes from the past. It’s so vitally important.”
Parents are also being reminded that any threats of school violence on social media or in person will be considered a felony. School districts and law enforcement agencies have created a zero-tolerance policy stance for students that make those threats.
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