You will see a lot of police officers at McGaugh Elementary School Tuesday, April 15. Relax. It’s not a crisis—it’s a training exercise to prepare for a crisis.
On Tuesday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., the Seal Beach Police Department and Orange County Fire Authority will conduct a live training/active shooter exercise within the eastern portions of McGaugh Elementary School at 1698 Bolsa Ave.
The Department of Homeland Security defines an “active shooter” as an individual who is killing or attempting to kill multiple victims in a confined, populated area. Active shooters usually use firearms (though knives have also been used).
Police officials chose the eastern portions of the school because the pool areas and tennis courts are used for Seal Beach Recreational Programs running every day of spring break. This live training exercise focuses on the Seal Beach Police Department and Orange County Fire Authority’s response to an active shooter incident. The officers and firefighters will apply dynamic approach and entry techniques learned from years of practice and experience with active shooter incidents worldwide.
This exercise will be closely supervised and controlled. No live ammunition will be allowed in the area during the training. Safety officers will be in place to monitor and police will post ample signage and greeters. This will NOT disrupt business as the exercise is being done during spring break 2014. Because of this, if you are on campus, plan accordingly.
Police officials chose this date during spring break because they anticipated less activity in the buildings. This is a great opportunity for police and fire to collaborate efforts if in fact a tragic incident of this magnitude were to ever occur.
Please share this information with any person(s) you feel should know including students who may be around during the break and vendors who deliver goods and services to the buildings. Police officials recognize that seeing this many police officers and fire personnel in one place without knowing the context could be un-nerving. Police will send out several social media postings and community flyers prior to the event.
“The Seal Beach Police Department has always embraced our partnerships with the Orange County Fire Authority and the Los Alamitos Unified School District,” said Sgt. Phil Gonshak, public information officer for the SBPD. “It is because of relationships such as these, that we are able to come together and train for worst case scenarios.”
