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Sgt. Mike Haynes from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department speaks to school officials about the right way to be safe during an Active Shooter Awareness Workshop on Monday morning in El Centro. (STEVEN ESPERANZA PHOTO / February 18, 2013) |
In an effort to help local school districts prepare for an “active shooter” event, the Imperial County Office of Education in partnership with the state Emergency Management Agency hosted an Active Shooter Awareness Workshop, at Southwest High School on Monday.
The workshop drew hundreds of school officials from around Imperial County as well as local law enforcement officials.
“This is the first time we’ve done something like this at the county level,” said Anne Mallory, superintendent of schools. “At our superintendents’ meeting following the Sandy Hook tragedy we decided this was something that needed to be discussed.”
Mallory said the goal of the workshop was to try and get all the districts in the county on the same page in terms of emergency response.
“If such an event were to occur, a number of local law enforcement agencies would respond immediately,” she said. “If we all had a consistent response method we potentially could be better prepared.”
The workshop featured guest speakers from other law enforcement agencies such as retired El Cajon Police Department Agent Richard Agundez.
Agundez was one of the first responders at the Granite Hills and Santana High School shootings in San Diego during the early 2000s.
“If schools are near businesses or churches students may be able to evacuate to those areas in the event of an emergency,” Agundez said.
Sgt. Joe Basham of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department echoed Agundez’s statement and advised school officials to begin building those relationships with the community.
“(Shootings at schools) are something I never thought I’d have to talk about,” Basham said. “But this is the reality that we are living in. We are all responsible for the safety of students.”
Staff Writer Karina Lopez can be reached at 760-337-3439 or klopez@ivpressonline.com
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