The University of Maryland Police Department (UMPD), University of Maryland Campus Recreation Services, Department of Environmental Safety (DES), Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD), and Prince George's County Fire Department (PGFD) participated in a active shooter training exercise on January 10th, 2014, at the Eppley Recreation Center (ERC) at the University of Maryland.
Due to the recent relevancy of active shooter incidents across the nation, the University of Maryland is taking a proactive approach to discuss, test, and evaluate its plans, resources, and coordination. The purpose of the training exercise is to provide participants an opportunity to demonstrate the response plans, policies, and procedure for responding to an active shooter at the University of Maryland.
A UMD Text Alert was sent out to inform the campus community of a Police training exercise taking place at the ERC. If an actual incident is occurring on campus, a UMD Text Alert would be sent with information to the campus community informing them what is going on and what to do. When officers entered ERC, they were greeted by sounds of blanks being fired off to simulate the sound of gun shots and as well as the smell of gun powder. Students volunteered as victims with injuries as well as witnesses, making the exercise more conducive to what officers may encounter in an actual event. Even though the training exercise was in a controlled environment, officers were presented with factors that they would encounter in an actual event; making the training exercise as real as possible without compromising participant's safety.
With every active shooter, the goal is to eliminate the threat in the least amount of time as possible with the fewest amount of casualties as possible. We conduct these training exercises to train and prepare for the worst but hope for the best. If you are unsure of what to do in an active shooter incident, please visit http://www.umd.edu/emergencypreparedness/guides/activeshooter.cfm , where general information is listed about active shooters, safety tips, and a short video about Run, Hide, and Fight!
Be Smart, Be Safe!
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