Union Co. deputies participate in ‘active threat’ training, responding to armed person inside school

MONROE, N.C. (WBTV) - A month after the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Texas, school safety remains a topic that is front and center for law enforcement and families.

For the past month in Union County, deputies have been getting a hands-on learning experience. One is on how to respond if there is a threat of violence inside a school.

“We pray that 911 call never comes in,” said Lt. James Maye. “We also want to be prepared in the case that it does happen.”

Deputies have learned techniques on how to properly respond, neutralize a threat and regain the safety of the school.

“It’s important that there’s a uniform style of training and uniform method use that way, no matter who may respond to the school, or to any crisis event within the county, whichever deputy may respond is trained on a program where they can all integrate together and respond together,” Maye said.

Maye says the department wants the deputies on the scene as fast as possible.

“So we’re working to put an SRO in every school to protect the students and to make sure that there’s a deputy already on scene that there’s no response time and a deputy is already there,” he said. “And if a person does pose a threat of violence to our schools that deputy can take action immediately to stop that threat.”

Earlier this year, the department did receive funding for an extra four school resource officer positions on the elementary school level.

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