Brown will offer optional hostile intruder training to students, faculty and employees beginning next week, according to a Monday Today@Brown message.
Students, faculty and employees can register online to attend the newly designed in-person or live virtual training sessions, which will be held between March 17 and April 9. All sessions will be led by FBI-trained instructors, Brown Police Chief Hugh Clements and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Sarah Latham wrote in the message.
Prior to the Dec. 13 mass shooting, the University had “not done active shooter training with students” unless a department requested a training session that included students, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 previously told The Herald. Training for faculty and employees was offered but not mandatory, Paxson said.
After Dec. 13, “we know that building a sense of preparedness for such events can help contribute to an individual sense of safety and well-being,” the message reads. “At the same time, we understand that each person’s readiness to participate will vary.”
The upcoming sessions were “designed with sensitivity and a trauma-informed framework,” and will not include loud noises or graphic images, Clements and Latham wrote. They added that each element of the training will be announced beforehand, allowing attendees to leave the session if they feel uncomfortable participating in particular sections.
“There is no expectation that everyone will engage with this training in the same way,” the message reads.
The sessions will revolve around the “Run, Hide, Fight” framework, which asserts that during an active shooting or similar incident, individuals should first try to evacuate the scene before resorting to sheltering in place or attempting to debilitate the intruder. Sessions will also “focus on situational awareness, decision-making and personal safety readiness,” according to the message.
The eight in-person and seven virtual sessions for students will take place separately from the eight in-person and three virtual trainings for faculty and employees. The new optional trainings are distinct from the mandatory training required for first responders on campus, Clements and Latham wrote.
In addition to the new training, the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management is continuing to offer a course on responding to hostile intruders upon request, Clements and Latham wrote.
The DPSEM course “highlights campus resources, response plans, and recovery support,” and teaches participants “to assess rapidly changing situations, make informed decisions, and protect themselves and others,” they wrote.
Each person must make a “personal decision how, when and whether to participate” in the newly-designed training sessions, Clements and Latham wrote. “Even if you have attended a hostile intruder training in the past, you may want to consider these updated sessions.”
James Libresco is a senior staff writer covering staff & student labor. He is a first-year student from Alexandria, Va. studying political science and contemplative studies. In his free time, he can be found playing basketball, meditating, or losing in Among Us.
