Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

DSU police to hold active shooter training; state police to hold more violent intruder seminars

Delaware Public Media

Efforts are being made across the First State to prepare students and law enforcement for active shooter scenarios in schools.

The Delaware State Police is adding to the list of middle and high schools hosting its violent intruder program called VIPR. The seminars will run at five Delaware schools over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, the Delaware State University Police is coordinating with Dover PD for a four-hour active shooter training session on campus this week.

DSU Police Chief Harry W. Downes Jr. says the University police will train as the first responders to a potential incident with Dover Police acting as backup. They will then train for a hostage situation.

“If it got into a hostage situation, then we would obviously bring in a command post where we’re actually setting up operations here on campus; where we’re talking between the two agencies and we’re also talking to the person that is holding someone hostage,” said Downes.

Downes says every police officer in each department in Delaware has gone through mandatory alert training through the Council of Police training.

“And the same tactics that one department uses, every department uses the exact same tactics in case we have to come together than we are going to be doing the exact same thing in a situation like this,” he said.

Wesley College Police will be at the training session on DSU campus. The University of Delaware Police Department would not comment on whether it is planning active shooter training in the near future, but there is an instructional outline and video for active shooter scenarios available on the UD department’s website.

Related Content