Leon County Sheriff's Office conducts active-shooter training for new, recent recruits

Less than two weeks after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, left 19 children and two teachers dead, the Leon County Sheriff's Office conducted regularly scheduled active-shooter training at local schools and businesses.

The most recent sessions, which occurred Wednesday through Friday, saw new recruits as well as deputies who were hired within the past year being taught how to respond to an armed assailant at a scene, said LCSO spokesperson Angela Green.

The deputies are trained to either act individually or with a team toward the sound of active gunfire, she said. In order to keep the trainings as real as possible, LCSO uses non-lethal ammunition called "simunition."

"This specific training ... is updated annually according to law enforcement best practices," Green said in a statement. "LCSO has a lot of other in-service training modules for all our deputies that corresponds with active-shooter training throughout the year."

The Tallahassee Police Department offers similar training for its officers to develop their skills in handling "active shooters, building clearing and dynamic scenes," said spokesperson Heather Merritt.

The LCSO Community Relations Unit also offers programs to teach members of the public tactics to maintain personal and commercial safety.

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The Commercial Security Survey, for example, includes a detailed site survey of businesses that yields recommendations on things like lighting, security and electronic surveillance.

For more information about these programs, go to www.leoncountyso.com/Citizen-Center/Resources/Crime-Prevention.

Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County Sheriff's Office conducts active-shooter training