Local PD undergoes active shooter training

FOSTORIA—The Fostoria Police Division participated in an eight-hour session of active shooter training at the Fostoria Learning Center on Wednesday, in part of the Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Ohio Peace Officer Academy $15 million pilot program to help fund professional training (CPT) for law enforcement officers. According to the Ohio Attorney General website, "Sworn officers and troopers who graduated from an academy in 2022 or earlier are required to take 24 hours of advanced training in 2023, with the state paying each law enforcement agency up to 100% of those officers' salaries while they take the training." Eight of the 24 hours must be completed on three topics mandated by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission (OPOTC), including school threat and safety training for three hours; legal updates for three hours; and arrest, search and seizure for two hours. The remaining 16 hours may be completed on any topic that meets the requirements of the Ohio Attorney General and approved by the agency administrator and pre-approved by the OPOTC. "When we think of active shooters, we think of schools," said Fostoria Police Chief, Gabe Wedge. "But, there's actually more in open areas for mass shootings. There were more shootings at churches (last year) than there were schools, and the numbers were pretty high compared to the schools. We always think of schools because that's what's on the news, but they do have the most people there most times, so we do see higher numbers of injuries and casualties and stuff like that." For the first hour of training on Wednesday, the department went to Fostoria City Schools and completed a walk-through, to familiarize the newer officers with the school grounds. Then, the officers went into classroom training sessions at the Fostoria Learning Center before finally moving into active shooter drills as individuals and groups. "Continued professional training is crucial in keeping officers updated in all aspects of the job, especially law changes and tactical advances," Wedge said. "It also is a huge component in the development of the younger officers. Sometimes we—law enforcement—don't always agree with the state in the types of classes that are labeled as mandatory, but recently the mandatory classes have been more job related overall." The following statistics were provided regarding active shooter incidents in the United States in 2022: 50 total incidents within 25 states plus Washington D.C. 313 casualties, with 100 killed and 213 wounded One Law Enforcement Officer killed 21 law enforcement officers wounded 13 incidents met "mass killing" definition Nine incidents occurred where law enforcement engaged shooters 47 males, one female, one nonbinary and one unidentified shooter were counted Four shooters wore body armor Nine shooters committed suicide Seven shooters were killed by law enforcement Two shooters were killed by a citizen 29 (three at large) shooters were apprehended by Law Enforcement