Police To Host Active Shooter Town Hall in North Tonawanda
With the recent tragedies here in Western New York, and across the country in Texas, it is safe to say that the country is on edge. There is now also a heightened focus on public safety.
Here in our community, the North Tonawanda Police Department is going to be presenting a program whose goal will be to educate its citizens on what they need to know in case they need to ever identify and respond to an active shooter situation.
The town hall will take place at the North Tonawanda Senior High School Alumni Center on Thursday, June 9th at 6 p.m., and all residents are encouraged to attend.
North Tonawanda lifelong resident, and Chief of Police Keith Gass said via a press release:
In an active threat, there are three stages of crisis response...Research shows that people who survive in active shooter situations go through these stages faster and take better actions at their decisive moments because they have prepared beforehand...The average law enforcement response time in these events is three minutes...a great way to reduce fatalities is to improve civilian response.
Many times law enforcement agencies present the 'The Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events course' to schools. The North Tonawanda Police Department now wants to invite the public to learn more next month at their Town Hall.
The course is open to the public and free of charge, but if you are planning on going, please consider bringing a non-perishable or toiletry donation for the residents of Buffalo affected by last week’s shooting on Jefferson Avenue.