COLLINGWOOD — Police in tactical gear descended on Collingwood Collegiate Institute last week, guns drawn.
Don’t worry, it was only a training exercise.
On Dec. 6, multiple members of the Collingwood-Blue Mountains OPP detachment, as well as the force’s emergency response unit attended the school to perform an emergency training exercise on school grounds. It marks the first time the OPP and the Simcoe County District School Board have collaborated on such an exercise at the Collingwood high school.
“We’ve been building a relationship with the school board,” said media officer Sgt. Wes Staddon.
Staddon said officers with the Collingwood OPP do rapid deployment training annually, however, it’s typically done in Orillia.
“We do this stuff, but we don’t always get opportunities like this to do it in our own community,” he said.
No students or role players were present during the exercise, which took place from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday. Officers moved through the school to get more familiar with its layout through walk-throughs, as well as tactical training in the event of an active shooter situation.
“It was also about learning to better work together because we had officers with the crime unit, front-line, administration, the tactical response unit and the emergency response team there,” said Staddon.
When asked how it felt for local officers to receive the training in a local setting, Staddon said the results speak for themselves.
“It was a Friday night, and some guys volunteered their time. Some were not scheduled to work; they showed up because they were interested,” he said. “The opportunity to go through the school and plan ahead in your own mind is so key.”
Following the Collingwood OPP signing on to an updated police protocol document with all the school boards it serves back in October, Staddon said the training on Friday took the relationship building a step further.
“This was a second step in rebuilding and strengthening our relationship with the school,” he said.
