The Miami-Dade Public Schools Police Department held an active shooter drill Friday following all the recent mass shootings across the country.
The officers say they hope they never have to use these tools, but they do prepare and train for the worst.
From the moment an active shooter situation begins, everyone involved is on high alert.
“In Miami-Dade County, our law enforcement teams are trained specifically to neutralize threats swiftly and immediately,” Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Edwin Lopez told reporters.
Friday’s training was very realistic, with armed officers canvassing the school hallways at Coral Gables Senior High School and children and teens acting as students, crying and screaming for help.
Medics, meanwhile, worked their way in to help those pretending to be injured.
“Our cops are trained to go in, go directly to the threat and neutralize that threat, like I mentioned before. And that means make the bad guy real dead, real quick,” Lopez said. “And we are willing to die for that cause.”
Lopez assures families that their team is prepared, but has a message for parents:
“Monitor the behavior of your children, monitor their usage on social media, monitor their usage of the computer,” he said. “We are relying on you as an additional layer of security.”
The Miami-Dade Schools Police Department has an officer at all their schools daily to assure that students and staff are safe, but also to know the ins and outs of the buildings over anyone else.
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