City staff undergoing ALICE response training

Residents and city employees sat in on some crisis response training sessions last week, outlining proactive responses to conflict.

James Nelson, now working as an officer with Wrangell's Forest Service office, led the courses at the Nolan Center March 15 and 16. He used to serve on the Wrangell Police Department, a position he had first taken in 2008. With scheduling in the works since last fall, his presentations last week were being done on behalf of the city, primarily for the benefit of its departmental staff.

The crisis response framework Nelson was presenting is not new to Wrangell, having previously led similar sessions with school staff in 2014. It goes by the acronym ALICE: or Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. The hands-on approach was developed by law enforcement veteran Greg Crane of the ALICE Training Institute in the wake of the Columbine shooting in 1999.

An ALICE-certified instructor, Nelson characterized the approach as one preferred by law enforcement, not only for schools but for all potential targets of gun violence. ALICE takes a more "proactive" tack than the prevalent lockdown method. In the event of a violent intrusion, Nelson explained, lockdown guidelines essentially have bystanders react by drawing blinds and dousing lights, shutting and locking doors, finding a remote side of the room and remaining there quietly until help arrives.

To the instructor, this is a misguided way to react to a crisis. Nelson cited as an average a police response time of five to seven minutes over a 25-year history of mass shootings. Using the shootings at Columbine and Virginia Tech in 2007 as examples, he noted the shooters had anticipated their targets would remain in place. In both cases, he suggested remaining in place had led to more deaths rather than reducing them.

"If somebody does come into that room, it makes really soft targets," he said.

Mass shootings can happen anywhere, Nelson explained, but many public places – schools, hospitals and libraries, for example – are designed to be welcoming and accessible, making them poor places to wait out an emergency.

What makes ALICE different is it creates time and distance between a person and an assailant, and emphasizes dissemination of information about an unfolding incident to others, either in the building or to law enforcement outside.

The "L" in the acronym, Nelson noted lockdown may still be the best option in a shooting event, but that having information about the situation will help people make an informed decision in a time of crisis. In that situation where staying put remains best, creating barricades with furniture and using locks to buy time can make a lot of difference.

Countering includes taking an aggressive or distracting pose with shooters, anything to distract an assailant or make it more difficult to concentrate on aiming – even "swarming," subduing and disarming one.

"You guys are the first responders, whether you want to be or not," said Nelson.

The "E" in the acronym, evacuation includes evasion and escape from the scene where possible.

Nelson's two-hour class included an interactive component, where members of the audience could help demonstrate armed intrusion and possible response scenarios for bystanders. This included pelting the "gunman" with anything handy, in this instance tennis balls, and how to most effectively grapple a shooter's firing arm.

Another aspect of the presentation was how to survive law enforcement responding to a crisis, who may not be able to easily distinguish friend from foe upon arriving at the scene. Nelson emphasized making oneself look non-threatening and following instructions to the letter.

"Do exactly what they say," he said.

Nelson has already led ALICE instruction with staff at Wrangell Medical Center, and will be revisiting the curriculum with school staff and faculty on Friday. Eventually he hopes to be able to instruct students as well.

"I've had opposition," he admitted, primarily from parents who prefer the school district's lockdown response plan.

Nelson has been an advocate for having the ALICE program in schools for some years, leading a staff training in the spring of 2014. When Wrangell Public School District reviewed its site crisis plan later that August, it had adopted a lockdown-related response plan to intrusion or active shooter scenarios. Nelson reappeared at a school board meeting in April 2015 to criticize that response plan, reiterating his recommendation of ALICE.

Nearly three years later, he was confident ALICE would finally become policy, with the school board revisiting the district's security policies.

"I feel pretty confident saying that this program will be implemented in the schools," said Nelson.