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BJA's Active Shooter Response Training Initiative

NCJ Number
243937
Date Published
2013
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This is an overview of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA's) active shooter training through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center.
Abstract
Through a partnership between the BJA and the FBI, the delivery of active-shooter response training is being delivered to State and local law enforcement personnel throughout the Nation. This effort has been fueled by a study conducted by Texas State University and ALERRT, which determined that 84 active-shooter events occurred between 2000 and 2010, and there is evidence that the frequency of these attacks is increasing. Lessons learned from these events indicate that the first responders on the scene of an active shooting must immediately target the location of the shooter and neutralize the threat, so as to prevent additional deaths or injuries. This means the first responders must no longer initially set up a perimeter and wait for their specialized units to respond. Consequently, the ALERRT active shooter response training is critical to teaching the skills and techniques that will assist law enforcement in responding more effectively and safely to an active-shooter event. The Active Shooter Level I training is designed to prepare the first responder to isolate, distract, and neutralize an "active shooter." The course addresses "shooting and moving, threshold evaluation, concepts and principles of team movement, setting up for and room entry techniques, approaching and breaching the crisis site, rescue team tactics, improvised explosive devices, and post-engagement priorities of work." The course concludes with dynamic "force-on-force" scenarios. With the support of BJA, ALERRT has trained just over 40,000 police officers nationwide in dynamic, force-on-force scenario-based training. The ALERRT curriculum has been adopted by numerous States and agencies as their standard active-shooter training, and the FBI has adopted it as its national training standard for active-shooter response.