Greg Crane, a former teacher and SWAT officer, was getting sick of constantly hearing about school shootings, knowing that most of the victims were defenseless. He knew that even trained police officers miss about three out of four shots in the line of duty, but civilian shooters have almost the same rate of actually hitting their victims – because people simply do not know how to defend themselves.
Teachers and administrators have taught students and, therefore the general population, to hide under desks or in corners when an active shooting is occurring. This action makes them easy targets and greatly increases the chances of being shot.
As a response to this critical concern, Crane developed a special training to teach everyone, even kindergartners, what they can do in these life and death situations that can better protect them, and ultimately save lives. He named the program ALICE – an acronym which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate.
Schools
ALICE training has been able to save a lot of lives since it has been in place. In one school that didn’t have the training, there were twelve defenseless students that were killed in one room, and eight in another. In a school where the students knew how to barricade the door, however, no students were killed. There are strength and numbers: If thirty kids are screaming and throwing school supplies at the shooter, that same shooter is more likely to miss their target. Fighting back should be the last resort, but when someone has a gun, students should know how to protect themselves.
Workplace
ALICE training was also designed for workplace environments. It is critical for an employer to have an emergency response plan so that employees are not at risk. Workplace violence is becoming more prevalent now, and employers need to prepare all employees to handle these potentially life-or-death situations.
SACS‘ ALICE Certified Trainers
Our ALICE-certified trainers can train your school, workplace, or team of volunteers. Give us a call today at (330) 255-1101 to schedule your training and learn to keep everyone safe!