As the shock of what happened in Blacksburg Virginia eases, the attention has turned to how such events can be prevented from happening in our own communities.

School District 57 put in place a “Threat Assessment Protocol” more than two years ago. That policy is designed to watch for disturbing behaviours, writings, e-mails and threats within the school population. The RCMP took an active role in developing that protocol, and takes part when a Threat Assessment Team is called together to take a closer look at a student if the red flags have started to appear, the object being to identify and deal with the risk before it escalates to violence. “Of course if a weapon shows up on the school ground, that protocol is out the window and it is an immediate 9-1-1 call” says RCMP Constable Gary Godwin.

Godwin says the RCMP in Prince George are prepared for emergency scenarios. “We have an Immediate Action Deployment Program” says Godwin. This plan is designed to deal with an “active shooter” which is a different situation than dealing with a barricaded gunman, or a hostage taker.

In the Immediate Action scenario, rapid response is critical. At Virginia Tech this week, there was a two hour lag time between the initial two shootings, and the second bloody round which took the lives of 30 more students and staff before the gunman took his own life.

There are about 15 Emergency Response Team members in Prince George, and each ERTmember has also been trained in the Immediate Action Deployment Program. There is at least one such trained member on each of the four watches in Prince George. More members are being trained in the special IADP.