CCB MEDIA PHOTO: Lt. Kevin Lennon presents active shooter response training at Yarmouth Police Headquarters Tuesday.
YARMOUTH – Residents and business representatives received training yesterday from Yarmouth Police on how to handle an active shooter or hostile situation.
The Civilian Response to Active Shooter/Hostile Event training was led by Yarmouth police Lt. Kevin Lennon who says if individual is in a dangerous situation the worst thing they can do is hide and hope.
“The training is to empower people that in the event that something happens at home, in your workplace or wherever you may be you can take some sort of action to defend yourself,” Lennon said. “We want people to know that there are things that you can do to avoid the danger, we talked about denying the intruder access into your area or if you have to defend yourself you are prepared to do that.”
Lennon said people should first try to escape and call 9-1-1.
If it is not safe to avoid the situation individuals should take actions to try to keep the intruder or suspect from entering the room they are in by locking or barricading doors.
As a last resort people should use whatever resources they have available to defend themselves from the suspect including pictures on walls or chairs.
The average response time for police in these situations is usually 3 to 5 minutes, which can seem like an eternity.
“We are coming but we have to fill that gap until we get there and that gap is to get people to recognize what danger is, how to avoid it and how to properly defend themselves in the event that something does happen,” Lennon said.
Participants were also told to report suspicious activity to police and notify supervisors if you feel a co-worker says something that could be taken as out of the ordinary or threatening.
The Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce partnered with Yarmouth police for the training and Mary Vilbon, the organizations executive director said she was happy with the turnout by the community.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to have these trainings but I think it’s very important,” Vilbon said. “And I think the Yarmouth police department is going above and beyond even to offer to go and do site visits to our businesses.”
Lennon said it is important for businesses or families to create a response plan and to practice them regularly.
Lennon is a 26-year law enforcement veteran who has been teaching active shooter response at the recruit, veteran and reserve officer level since 2002. He is also a Level 4 instructor with the Municipal Police Training Committee and has trained thousands of officers in Patrol Response to Active Shooters.
In 2014 there were 179 Mass Casualty events across the country.
More than 50 percent of the incidents take place at businesses and about 25 percent are at schools.
Residents or businesses who could not attend but would like to learn how to respond contact the Yarmouth Chamber or Yarmouth Police.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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