Whitefish employees train for worst-case intruder scenario

The Whitefish City Hall was on a different kind of “lock down” last week during an all-day training course designed to teach employees how to respond in the event of an active intruder emergency.

The building was closed for the day Friday while law enforcement officers gave Whitefish city employees a “Run, Lock, Fight” training.

“Nobody expects these things to happen at their school or at their town, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared for it,” said Kalispell police officer Jordan Venezio.

“I respect if you are the most nonviolent person on earth. That is awesome. But bad things still happen, and we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our families and our coworkers to be mentally prepared for this stuff at all time. That is what we are asking of you guys — to run these things through your minds.”

Venezio was one of a group of officers from Kalispell, Whitefish and Eureka who teach community members to respond to an intruder emergency through lectures, practical exercises and scenario-based training.

According to a study of 65 “active intruder” events, someone dies every 15 seconds during these events. The typical event happens for three to four minutes before ending. And the typical police response is five to seven minutes.

“The math is not our side,” according to the study presented at the training. That’s why each person was encouraged to “take action” to ensure their own survival, and possibly the survival of others.

The training Friday included take away lessons learned from previous events focusing on what different people did right during a horrific time. The city employees were taught some emergency medical techniques, “how to run” and how to lock down a room. They were also taught some rudimentary fighting techniques and how to take away a weapon.

The training, described as “powerful” and “intense” by some of the city employees was designed to create the most realistic and dynamic training available.

Kalispell Police Officer Cory Clarke encouraged the employees not to be nervous, and to “take some time” if they needed. He said at the end of the day, they would be better off for it.

“During today’s training you will come together as a group even more than you are. I love seeing the change and it always happens,” Clarke said.

Whitefish City Manager Adam Hammatt encouraged city employees to keep the dialogue running in the future.

“I want to make sure we don’t drop the ball after this training. We want to make sure we are more and more vigilant about this stuff,” Hammatt said.

Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial said law enforcement and fire officials are trained to go through different scenarios about what might happen when they respond to any emergency, and to formulate a response.

The chief said after the recent mass shooting event in Las Vegas, he discussed these scenarios with his own family.

“We don’t want to be paranoid. But when you are in a super market, at a concert or a movie theater, think about what might happen and plan.” Dial said. “Take out of this as much as you can, and practice and ask ‘what if.’”

Reporter Breeana Laughlin can be reached at 758-4441 or blaughlin@dailyinterlake.com.