AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: The above video is from a March 2019 story involving the ALERRT Center.
Texas State University's Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center has received an $8.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Preparing for Active Shooter Situations (PASS) program.
The money will support ALERRT's Integrated Response Training Program, which provides training across the U.S. to improve rapid response to active shooter situations.
The PASS program is designed to increase public safety by providing funds for scenario-based training. PASS-funded projects provide training to meet the goal of the 2016 Protecting Our Lives by Initiating COPS Expansion (POLICE) Act by offering "scenario-based, integrated response courses designed to counter active shooter threats or acts of terrorism against individuals or facilities."
The ALERRT Center has received grants through the POLICE Act the past three years – $8.6 million in 2019 and 2018, and $5.4 million in 2017.
The center was created at Texas State in 2002 as a partnership between the university, the San Marcos Police Department and the Hays County Sheriff's Office. According to the center's website, it was named the "National Standard in Active Shooter Response Training" by the FBI in 2013.
“First responders risk their lives every day to ensure the safety of our families, friends, and neighbors, and they deserve the best possible training to do their jobs,” said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Friday. “Texas State’s ALERRT Program has proven to be highly successful in training first responders in Texas and across the nation to respond to active shooter situations and is leading the way in keeping those who protect us safe.”
ALERRT also hosts a national integrated response conference each fall.
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