OCEAN CITY — With last month’s tragic incident in Florida still fresh in everyone’s collective mind, the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) next week will host two seminars to educate on basic survival techniques in the event of an active shooter incident.
As part of the Delmarva Safety Expo presented by the Arrow Safety Device Company next week, OCPD Sergeant Dennis Eade will present two active shooter training sessions for visitors. The two-hour Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) sessions will teach civilians the Avoid, Deny and Defend strategy if ever faced with an active shooter situation.
While the Delmarva Safety Expo and associated CRASE training sessions were planned months ago, the potential lessons learned are timely with recent events in Florida and St. Mary’s County in Maryland. Eade, an 18-year OCPD veteran, is a highly experienced active shooter incident trainer and has been instrumental in developing the department’s active assault response procedures, training and policy.
“I don’t want anyone to be confused,” Eade said. “This doesn’t teach anyone to shoot guns. On the heels of everything going on in the world, the course is designed for the citizens. It includes some of the same basic principles we teach police officers. If something occurs in your workplace, a school, a church or a business, this teaches basic techniques to increase your chance for survival.”
Eade said the techniques and concepts explored during the CRASE training sessions this week should help the average citizen be prepared and take proactive steps to help ensure survival during an active shooter incident if the occasion ever arises.
“The techniques can be simple and common sense,” he said. “For example, in your workplace, it could be as simple as rearranging your desk so you can see the door and have a way to get out if necessary.”
In many of the recent active shooter incidents, particularly those at schools, police and armed guards are on hand and trained to intervene in many instances. However, Eade pointed out in other active shooter cases, the civilians at risk are the first line of their own defense and can take steps and have a plan in place in advance to ensure their own safety.
“We talk a lot about what it will look like when the police show up, because in many of these cases, the police show up after its over and the victims are actually the first responders,” he said. “These are some techniques and concepts to employ in your own little slice of the world. The hope is it’s the best training that you ever receive that you never have to use.”
Recent active shooter incidents have shown the perpetrators had a plan in advance, according to Eade.
“When you look at the recent history of active shooting incidents, a lot of people think about Sandy Hook and most recently Broward County, but the thing to remember is those were planned events,” he said. “In those cases, a troubled or deranged suspect had a plan and carried out that plan.”
However, in many other cases, the incidents happen impulsively and without warning in an otherwise quiet and peaceful environment.
“The reality is, it can be a spontaneous event that can happen at any place and any time,” he said. “You might have an individual that otherwise appears healthy and sane and just cracks that day. We’ve seen it here in Ocean City when a suspect doused himself in gasoline, set himself on fire and ran into a church.”
Eade said the CRASE sessions he teaches next week will include real-life situations and conversations that might not always be comfortable, but are necessary.
“This program is not designed to make people paranoid and afraid,” he said. “It might scare some people to some degree, but that’s not a bad thing. We want them to be prepared and have a plan. Pretending it won’t happen here can set people up for failure. That’s just the world we live in today.”
Eade said the CRASE sessions will feature many of the same training and preparedness procedures routinely practiced over and over again by the police department.
“The city and this department take this very seriously,” he said. “The OCPD trains regularly for a response to active shooting incidents. We train often and we train hard. We’re not sitting at desks watching a power point. We’re setting up different scenarios and carrying out our responses.”
He also pointed to the town’s ongoing effort to make the community safer and preparing its citizens for potentially dangerous situations is part of that equation.
“The town is taking this very seriously too,” he said. “The city is eliminating many access points along the Boardwalk because we’ve seen many cases where a deranged individual is using a truck or vehicle to plow into a crowd. The city has also installed big planters and barriers at City Hall and at Northside Park.”
The CRASE sessions will be offered next week as part of the Delmarva Safety Expo at the Clarion Fontainebleau Hotel at 110th Street. The first session is Wednesday, April 4 at 4:30 p.m., while a second session will be offered on Thursday, April 5 at 1 p.m. For more information or pre-registration, call Heather Brittingham at 302-856-2516, ext. 208.
