By Jon Parton
A series of mass shootings has gained national attention in recent months and the college has responded by implementing a new strategy known as ALICE training.
ALICE stands for Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate. The program was created 10 years ago by Greg Crane, a former law enforcement officer, and his wife Lisa Crane, a former counselor and educational therapist. The college contracted their company, Response Options, for the ALICE training.
The program created controversy back in 2006 when the Texas school district of Burleson rejected the program after training all of its teachers and some of its students.
Part of the ALICE training calls for students and faculty to physically confront attackers if the opportunity presents itself.
Alisa Pacer, manager of Emergency Preparedness, said the college decided to adopt the ALICE strategy because it was believed to be better than the school’s previous policy.
“If you truly break down ALICE, it’s the same strategies that are enforced and provided by the Department of Homeland Security, where you’ll hear the out principles ‘Hide out, get out, or take out,’” Pacer said. “In other words, it’s self-empowerment for survival.”
Pacer said that a possible emergency situation involving an active shooter on campus has no clear solution.
“Each situation is so volatile and so quickly changing,” Pacer said. “You know, in my experience, especially when I first came to this campus, active shooter was big then too. It was after Virginia Tech and people asked the question, ‘Tell me what to do?’ And there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer.”
Pacer said one of the most significant changes to policy involves the idea of lockdown.
“If we lock classroom doors, either for you, or you do it yourself… you can always get out,” Pacer said. “You’re never locked in. And in the training, that’s a big concept that we’re trying to change. And we’re not telling you to stay if it’s in your best interest to go.”
The training is a requirement for all college employees. Pacer estimated that more than 1,200 employees already completed training in the span of one week.
“By the end of September, we will have an online Angel core for those employees that just absolutely can’t make an in-person session,” Pacer said. “They’ll be able to take the online video course and we will be able to track the training that way.”
The school also adopted a new text and desktop alert system called JCCC Alerts. Pacer said that every credit student, continuing education student and college employee is automatically enrolled in the program. JCCC Alerts sends texts during emergency situations, informing people with up-to-date known details.
“We’ve gotten the buy-in that, as we have information, so will you, because that equals survival,” Pacer said.
Pacer said real-time communication of events as they occur is important to ensuring survival during a shooting.
“If you look at any instance that has fault, or turns to chaos, I mean if you look back at root cause, communication is usually 90 percent of the theme that you’ll see,” Pacer said.
The college is currently looking into making the program available for students, but nothing has been decided at the moment. Janelle Vogler, executive director of Audit and Advisory Services, said she would like to see students be able to take participate in ALICE training.
“Since it’s not a required thing, I think it’s such a positive, great skill for people to have,” Vogler said.
Larry Dixon, deputy chief, Police Department, said police officers on campus have taken the ALICE training as well.
“Our officers have trained with the Overland Park Police Department’s tactical unit,” Dixonsaid. “We’re trained to respond to violent intrusion, but the [ALICE] training offered a new perspective.”
Dixon said he believed the program would be very useful for students to take and welcomed the idea of opening training to everyone.
“Anytime you can make the college community more aware, the better,” Dixonsaid.
Contact Jon Parton, managing editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.