2008 Woodie Awards
City proves it can handle the worst
Josh King
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: News
Law enforcement apprehended shooters on Florida A&M's campus while Leon Emergency Medical Services rushed students with life-threatening wounds to local hospitals Monday during Operation School Safety.
Makeup and other props were used to assure the North Florida Regional Domestic Security Task Force and FAMU carried out a realistic, full-scale mock school shooting exercise.
In an effort to strengthen response time during emergencies, more than 100 people participated in the mock exercise, including law enforcement, local volunteers and students from FAMU's theatre department.
The operation included a negotiating team that settled conflict through negotiation, a sniper team that responded from a distance by shooting the individual to stop the crime and an entry team, which is used as the last resort and goes into the specified area to resolve conflict.
"A large scale event like this takes a lot of man power," said David McCranie, a public information officer from the Tallahassee Police Department.
McCranie said everybody would learn valuable lessons through the extensive Operation School Safety exercise.
He explained that through the process, the task force is able to pick out the smallest imperfection to improve response time.
"A mistake we make could cost someone's life," he said. "The result of (this effort) is lives saved."
Because TPD is working toward a faster response time, it is now training patrol officers for extreme emergencies, McCranie said.
Operation School Safety allowed hands-on training for TPD, Tallahassee Fire and Rescue, Leon County EMS and FAMU Police Department officers in case of an emergency.
The exercise also allowed FAMU to test its notification center, e2Campus alert, which is the first system used to send messages to the campus community in case of an emergency.
"The (alert) system really came in handy because I had no idea what was going on," said Kelvin Williams, 19.
Makeup and other props were used to assure the North Florida Regional Domestic Security Task Force and FAMU carried out a realistic, full-scale mock school shooting exercise.
In an effort to strengthen response time during emergencies, more than 100 people participated in the mock exercise, including law enforcement, local volunteers and students from FAMU's theatre department.
The operation included a negotiating team that settled conflict through negotiation, a sniper team that responded from a distance by shooting the individual to stop the crime and an entry team, which is used as the last resort and goes into the specified area to resolve conflict.
"A large scale event like this takes a lot of man power," said David McCranie, a public information officer from the Tallahassee Police Department.
McCranie said everybody would learn valuable lessons through the extensive Operation School Safety exercise.
He explained that through the process, the task force is able to pick out the smallest imperfection to improve response time.
"A mistake we make could cost someone's life," he said. "The result of (this effort) is lives saved."
Because TPD is working toward a faster response time, it is now training patrol officers for extreme emergencies, McCranie said.
Operation School Safety allowed hands-on training for TPD, Tallahassee Fire and Rescue, Leon County EMS and FAMU Police Department officers in case of an emergency.
The exercise also allowed FAMU to test its notification center, e2Campus alert, which is the first system used to send messages to the campus community in case of an emergency.
"The (alert) system really came in handy because I had no idea what was going on," said Kelvin Williams, 19.
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