Rural police agencies visit Northern Colorado for school shooting response training
Dozens of law enforcement officers from across Colorado gathered near the Wyoming border this week to train for one of the most challenging situations they could face: an active shooter inside a school.
The training brought together deputies, officers and troopers from agencies spanning rural communities across the state, including mountain towns and eastern plains communities. Many of those attending serve as school resource officers responsible for protecting students and staff.
"If you don't train for a worst-case scenario, if you don't train for the worst thing that can happen, you will be unprepared for it," said Capt. Matt Turner of the Weld County Sheriff's Office.
The course was hosted by Faster Colorado, a nonprofit organization focused on improving school safety and emergency response preparedness. Thanks to a grant provided through the Colorado Office of School Safety, participating agencies were able to send officers to the training free of charge.
"We were provided with a grant through the Office of School Safety to go around and take training out to rural areas of Colorado," said Quinn Cunningham, lead instructor for Faster Colorado.
According to Cunningham, the grant helps overcome barriers that often prevent smaller agencies from accessing specialized training opportunities.
"These smaller rural agencies sometimes don't have the funding, don't have the resources to do this type of training," Cunningham said.
The training covered a variety of skills designed to improve officers' readiness during critical incidents.
"We've been learning new techniques as it pertains to shooting our weapons, from the minutia of sights all the way down to trigger pull," said Sgt. Jason Phipps, who oversees the Weld County Sheriff's Office school resource officer unit.
Phipps said advanced training opportunities are especially valuable for officers assigned to schools.
"Any time our units, the SRO units, can get advanced training that prepares them for any type of incidents at the school [it] will benefit the community and keep students safe," Phipps said.
Instructors said the course also exposes officers to techniques and perspectives they may not encounter during their normal training routines.
"This is my bubble, and these are the things I train. Well, there's so many things outside of the bubble that people don't know and don't see, and so we're bringing that to these agencies," Cunningham said.
Phipps said the instruction broadened participants' understanding of potential threats and response options.
"They've opened the eyes to all levels of the shooters that have been out there today," Phipps said.
Turner said bringing together officers from different agencies and backgrounds creates opportunities to learn new approaches.
"Fresh ideas are good. They help us think of things we never thought of before," Turner said.
Organizers hope the training will help rural law enforcement agencies better prepare for emergencies in schools while ensuring officers have access to resources that may otherwise be difficult to obtain.
