On November 8th, the Laramie Police Department Foundation (LPDF) sponsored training from the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) on school safety. Laramie High School hosted the event open to school personnel, educators, school resource officers, public safety professionals, medical professionals, and anyone directly involved with schools. Visitors from across the state were in attendance.

NTAC Social Science Research Specialists Dr. Aaron Cotkin, Ph.D., and Kristy Domingues, M.S, flew in from Washington, D.C., to present their research on targeted school attacks. Their presentation included real-life scenarios, walking through the multi-dimensional phases of attacks that ended tragically and those that proper procedures prevented. The presenters offered suggestions and resources to assist in prevention and to augment school Emergency Response Plans.

ACSD#1 would like to thank the following: LPDF and their associates for sponsoring the event; Dr. Cotkin and Ms. Dominguez for the presentation of their research; and all attendees who dedicated their time to learning how to keep students and staff safer in their learning environments.

To learn more about the NTAC or the LPDF, please click the links below:

• NTAC: https://www.secretservice.gov/protection/ntac. 

LPDF: https://lpdfoundation.org/