Police join together for active shooter training at Bolivar school
BOLIVAR, Tenn. — Multiple local police departments gathered together to participate in an important training scenario.
Hosted by the Bolivar Police Department, an active shooter training was held at Bolivar Central High School. Whiteville and Middleton’s police departments were in attendance as well.
Sergeant Chris Wilkerson with Bolivar Police explains more about what went on Friday morning.
“Today was an active shooter training scenario,” Sergeant Wilkerson explained. “It was a multi-jurisdictional training exercise to ensure that officers are better trained and equipped to handle active shooter situations in the schools.”
Through a grant, the police department was able to get some extra equipment to assist them.
“So Bolivar Police Department got a high crime grant this year. Part of that grant provided active shooter training for us in this situation. It also provided some bullet proof vests and helmets for the department,” Wilkerson said.
Being able to come together and train within different departments is a huge thing, according to Sergeant Wilkerson. He goes into more detail about how important this can be for them.
“Typically our day to day operations don’t let us interact with each other in a training environment. So if we’re going to do something, we need to do it in training first. We’ll find our flaws and we can address those flaws in training rather than a real world situation,” he said.
Sergeant Wilkerson said communication is key in these scenarios. This training helps them find ways to communicate in the most effective way.
They plan on doing these trainings in other schools around the area, as well as continuing the training each year.
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