County to hold mock school disaster exercise

CLINTON COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Clinton County and Frankfort law enforcement agencies will hold a mock school disaster exercise Thursday.

Officials will begin to provide additional training for first responders in a disaster situation at 9 a.m. at the Indiana Army National Guard Armory.

The Frankfort Police Department’s involvement in the mock disaster exercise is part of Mayor Chris McBarnes’ 200-Day Plan, which has been in place since July 1 – long before the Newtown, Conn., tragedy on Dec. 14.

“With continued sensitivity to the recent, horrendous tragedy in Newtown, the training we have had planned for some time now is more important than ever. In light of Newtown, the exercise will be conducted at our local armory – not a school – on Jan. 3 where area law enforcement agencies will continue to train in responding to a potential disaster,” McBarnes said.

Police Chief Troy Bacon says this type of training is absolutely necessary.

“Any time we can do realistic training, it helps us be that much more prepared. Our response is what’s so critically important. After Columbine, police departments across the country had to put different protocols in place. Columbine taught us that we must go in as quickly as possible," Bacon said. “A few years after Columbine, we started training with these new protocols. We work on this type of situation often, so this is not a knee jerk reaction to what happened in Newtown."

Officer Chad Walker, who is the coordinator for the exercise, says every law enforcement agency in the county will be participating as a means to reinforce their ongoing training.

“We will be enacting several scenarios inside the Armory throughout that morning to give officers a variety of opportunities to perform their duties in different situations,” Walker said.

Several Frankfort High School drama students who volunteered for the morning will participate as “victims” in the training exercise. The Armory is located at 1705 Burlington Avenue.