On Wednesday, the Emery County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) made the announcement that, with recent legislation and new state laws that concern school safety, responsibility has come to the ECSO to train certain school staff members within each school of the district.
This training, which is mandated by the state of Utah, provides a foundation for staff members of the local schools to be better prepared in regard to critical incidents that may be encountered while on the property. The ECSO, members of the Emery School District and principals joined together for the training.
The training took place at the ECSO training building and included both lectures and practical exams. Introductory training was given on how to mitigate active school threats.
“Going into this, I was not sure what to expect. We were teaching teachers to search for bandits and eliminate the threat,” stated Emery County Sheriff Tyson Huntington. “I was pleasantly surprised to see how the school district reacted. The district and teachers aggressively engaged the threats and were not shy about shooting them.”
A 9mm Glock 17 that was modified to shoot a high-velocity paintball was used in training on how to eliminate threats. Paper static targets were used, as well as live humans that were playing bandits. One scenario included a live hostage taker that had a simulated student hostage. The taker was eliminated every time, with the hostage never coming to harm, according to the ECSO.
Sheriff Huntington expressed that there are some though administrators that he believes will put themselves in danger to protect the children. He stated that there was one principal that even went hands-on when her gun jammed.
“ECSO is grateful to have this opportunity to train our school staff. The deputies that helped with the training were also impressed with our teachers. I would also like to thank the ECSO staff who participated,” said the sheriff. “All of them were excited to be a part of the training. Our deputies understand the importance of school safety and look forward to doing their part.”
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- Photos Courtesy of the ECSO
