Police and teachers prepare for the worst
Updated: December 14, 2012
CHAMPAIGN -- Police and first responders always prepare for the worst. They team up with schools to plan for tragedies like the one that happened in Newtown, Connecticut.
Police officers say of course you can never be fully prepared for such a scary situation but it is always best to have some sort of plan in place. That is why school workers and police officers run drills every year.
"There is a great possibility of things like that happening close to home so we do what we can to try and prepare for that," said David Griffet. He is a Detective Sergeant for the Champaign Police Department.
Preparing means first responders may be right there in the classroom. Reports say teachers ushered students into bathrooms and closets when shots rang out at Sandy Hook Elementary.
"You can try to think and prepare yourself for what you're going to do however a lot of these incidents become very, very complex, very quickly," said Sergeant Griffet.
That is why he and the police department work closely with teachers.
"In years past when school's been out of session, we've used some of the schools, had officers practice deploying and applying those techniques that we would use should one of these situations happen in our community," said Sergeant Griffet.
The schools also take measures to try and keep trouble outside.
"The schools go to great lengths in that all the school doors are locked and one specific entrance where people that are coming to visit come to. They of course have an intercom system where they can talk to those people," said Sergeant Griffet.
But as the tragedy at Sandy Hook shows, it can't always be prevented.
"I would just hope that we don't have people in our community that have a desire to want to have these kinds of events," said Sergeant Griffet.
It's not just teachers who train for a day like today, Champaign Police Officers also work hard to stay prepared. Coincidentally, they took part in department wide drills today. Sergeant Griffet says with each new tragedy, they do their best to adapt.
Police officers say of course you can never be fully prepared for such a scary situation but it is always best to have some sort of plan in place. That is why school workers and police officers run drills every year.
"There is a great possibility of things like that happening close to home so we do what we can to try and prepare for that," said David Griffet. He is a Detective Sergeant for the Champaign Police Department.
Preparing means first responders may be right there in the classroom. Reports say teachers ushered students into bathrooms and closets when shots rang out at Sandy Hook Elementary.
"You can try to think and prepare yourself for what you're going to do however a lot of these incidents become very, very complex, very quickly," said Sergeant Griffet.
That is why he and the police department work closely with teachers.
"In years past when school's been out of session, we've used some of the schools, had officers practice deploying and applying those techniques that we would use should one of these situations happen in our community," said Sergeant Griffet.
The schools also take measures to try and keep trouble outside.
"The schools go to great lengths in that all the school doors are locked and one specific entrance where people that are coming to visit come to. They of course have an intercom system where they can talk to those people," said Sergeant Griffet.
But as the tragedy at Sandy Hook shows, it can't always be prevented.
"I would just hope that we don't have people in our community that have a desire to want to have these kinds of events," said Sergeant Griffet.
It's not just teachers who train for a day like today, Champaign Police Officers also work hard to stay prepared. Coincidentally, they took part in department wide drills today. Sergeant Griffet says with each new tragedy, they do their best to adapt.
