Moore Police Department Talks Active Shooter Training, Partnerships To Help Better Prepare

In the wake of the mass shooting this week at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, News 9 looked into what metro police departments do to prepare for the worst. 

The Moore Police Department wants us all to know they are trained and ready in the event of an active shooter situation. 

“Everyone is forward thinking, we are discussing the what if’s,” said Lt. Kyle Johnson with the Moore Police Department. 

Oklahomans are looking to law enforcement with questions on how prepared they are should tragedy strike in our state. 

“We are not behind the curve…while we have had many tragedies, I think that we have shown that even with great tragedy we have responded to those things,” said the Lieutenant. 

Moore Police wanted to assure residents they are required to complete active shooter school training, followed by alert and rapid response training every year. 

“It teaches our officers what some of the priorities are, how to deal with an active shooter event, how to essentially enter and stop threats rather than stand by and collaborate and wait for SWAT teams. We don’t take that approach at all,” he said. 

The department does classroom training, but it isn’t their main focus. 

“It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and talk about tactics or how you are going to handle a specific scenario but it’s completely different when have all the sights, sounds, alarms going off, children screaming. You are having to take all that information on and respond accordingly,” said the Lieutenant. 

They say strong partnerships in the community give them the opportunity to coordinate multi-agency training operations. Moore Public Schools allowing them to do real-life scenario trainings with teachers, administrators, and students. 

“This year we focused on a school setting just because everything that is going on in the country. That said they happen everywhere, at local malls, grocery stores, parking lots, concerts. When we train, we are training for that type of event regardless of venue,” said Lt. Johnson. 

Johnson said all Moore Public Schools have locked doors with keycard access. All MPD officers have school access cards in case of emergency. 

Furthermore, all their officers are equipped with gas masks, helmets, and full tactical gear.