CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) - After a slew of mass shootings around the country, The Miami-Dade Schools Police Department is training for trouble.
The chief made it clear that his officers will not hesitate to neutralize a threat at Miami-Dade County schools.
On Friday, police, along with other law enforcement partners, held a mass casualty training at Coral Gables Senior High School.
“What sets us apart is the fact that we have our own school police force, and that allows us to coordinate and respond to the needs of the kids in the building quicker,” said Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent Jose Dotres.
It is the worse case scenario, an active school shooter and drills, which have sadly become a necessity.
“Our cops are trained to go in, go directly to the threat and neutralize that threat, like I mentioned before, and that means make the bad guy real dead, real quick,” said MDSPD Chief Edwin Lopez.
That is the promise Lopez is making in the wake of Uvalde, Parkland and so many other shootings.
“We stand ready to safeguard with the same level of aggression, the same level of force and the same level of violence that’s presented to our cops, we’re going to respond immediately with that same and much more,” said Lopez.
The drill is a part of regularly scheduled scenarios in training that happen every summer and throughout the year, while police and school leaders can be best prepared to respond.
They also asked parents to do their part.
“Monitor the behavior of your children, monitor the usage of social media, monitor the usage of the computer, we are relying on you as an additional layer of security,” said Lopez.
Lopez also added that he will use the takeaways from Friday’s training to improve future trainings throughout the year.
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