WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Nov. 10, 2014 — How do you handle a violent intruder in a business or public place? This question is on everyone’s minds today and ALICE training is one way to address the tough topic.

“West Liberty University Campus Police brought the training method to campus last summer and already we have scheduled or completed training for over 500 students and staff on campus. Now we are opening the training up to the local community and will have sessions at the Highlands for local businesses,” said Associate Dean of Students Services Marcella Snyder.

Five public sessions are scheduled at either the Highlands Center campus or the Main campus.

• Highlands Center – 8:30 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 15 and 9 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 20.
• Main Campus – 10 a.m., Monday, Nov. 17, 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 20 and 10 a.m., Friday, Dec. 5.

ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate, and it is being adopted by school systems, universities, hospitals and businesses across the country. Headquartered in Medina, Ohio, the ALICE Training Institute was founded by law enforcement officer, Greg Crane.

Crane created two training programs, ALICE and RAIDER (Rapid Deployment, Awareness, Intervention, Decisiveness, EMS, Recovery) so that if a person should face a shooter situation, they could survive it. Crane developed the programs with the hopes of keeping his wife, an elementary school principal, safe — after tragic shootings at Columbine High School in 1999.

The training will include background knowledge such as statistics and why ALICE training is effective, a detailed overview of ALICE and the liability of proactive versus passive response strategies.

Similar to the US Department of Education’s “Run. Hide. Fight.” initiative, the ALICE method is focused on empowering students, faculty and staff alike to make decisions on how to respond in a violent intruder situation.

Building on the traditional lockdown approach, the tools learned through the ALICE training are applicable in multiple venues beyond the classroom, since violent intruder situations can occur in any venue, and have happened in churches, malls, restaurants, movie theaters, and even city streets.

“Although we always hope that an incident such as this will not occur on our campus, this is a great opportunity for us to educate our faculty, staff and students on the options that are available for them to respond in any violent intruder situation. Preparation is the first step in maximizing survivability and minimizing casualties,” Snyder said.

If interested in joining one of the public sessions for ALICE, please email msnyder@westliberty.edu or register at westliberty.edu/emergencies/alice

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