SAN ANTONIO – Michael Davis has been looking over the Department of Justice’s report on the shooting at Robb Elementary.
As an instructor at the Alamo Area Regional Law Enforcement Academy, Davis said there is a lot of valuable input that public safety agencies and emergency management coordinators can take away from it.
“It’s a horrendous way to learn, but the unfortunate reality is that we’ve had to learn from these types of incidents stemming all the way back from 1999 and Columbine,” Davis said.
The academy reaches officers in 12 counties who are trained in state and federal requirements. Davis said there are already efforts to get committees to bring agency heads together to start a conversation on necessary changes to better communicate a response.
“Having that mindset of, ‘It’ll never happen here’ or ‘It just hasn’t happened here’ is the wrong mindset to have. Our goal is to be prepared,” Davis said. “The more you plan for these types of things, the better you can mitigate and work around it. All of it really comes down to having those discussions, training, mutual aid agreements.”
Davis’ recommendations to emergency responders after they read the report include communication with outside agencies, reevaluating existing policies and practicing emergency plans.
“You need to know that it works when you need it, and you need to know that your people are trained to do it,” Davis said. “And we have to have the commitment to serve our community.”
KSAT asked local school districts and the San Antonio Police Department if they had reviewed the DOJ’s report.
“School safety will always be a priority for us in NISD as will our efforts to improve existing practices and protocols,” a Northside ISD spokesperson said.
“Safety of our students and staff is our number one priority. We will continue to go through the report and ensure our police officers and safety specialists are apprised of it, as well,” a North East ISD spokesperson said.
“All our officers are/will be going through the State mandated ALERRT active shooter training during every two-year training cycle,” an SAPD spokesperson said.
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