Aug. 20, 2008

VCU Police participate with other area forces in specialized ALERRT training

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By Mike Porter

With guns at the ready, officers practice covering each other and scanning the area for a potential gunman as they approach the old Armstrong High School Building in Richmond. The two-day Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) session is meant to prepare police to respond to an active shooter incident. Photo by Mike Porter, VCU Office of Communications and Public Relations
With guns at the ready, officers practice covering each other and scanning the area for a potential gunman as they approach the old Armstrong High School Building in Richmond. The two-day Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) session is meant to prepare police to respond to an active shooter incident. Photo by Mike Porter, VCU Office of Communications and Public Relations

Patrol officers from the VCU Police Department joined their counterparts from the University of Richmond, Virginia Union University, J. Sargent Reynolds Community College and the Federal Reserve Bank for a two-day Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) session at the old Armstrong High School building in Richmond.

VCU Patrol Officers Greg Paisley, Mark Bailey, Aaron Copenhaver and Ishaq Lee and 16 others from area police forces attended classroom lectures as part of their active shooter training. Photo by Mike Porter, VCU Office of Communications and Public Relations
VCU Patrol Officers Greg Paisley, Mark Bailey, Aaron Copenhaver and Ishaq Lee and 16 others from area police forces attended classroom lectures as part of their active shooter training. Photo by Mike Porter, VCU Office of Communications and Public Relations

Officers participated in 16 hours of active shooter training on Aug. 13 and 14, including classroom lectures and hands-on exercises with weapons that fire non-lethal, simulated ammunition rounds. 

"The focus of this effort is to train law enforcement personnel how to more effectively respond in the event of an active shooter incident," said Capt. Grant Warren, VCU Police Department. "This is the first of 10 ALERRT sessions we are hosting between now and next spring."

VCU's Police Department and the University of Richmond's Police Department worked together to secure a $28,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to purchase equipment and support materials necessary for the current ALERRT training program.

VCU police began participating in the ALERRT program in December 2007. Ultimately, all 82 sworn VCU police officers will complete ALERRT training.