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Security, feeling safe in your surroundings, is not easily accomplished anymore.

Children today face a continual barrage of profound violence from video games, television, movies, newspapers and sometimes, sadly, in their own neighborhoods. Our society seems to condone a lack of respect for human life and dignity. Lack of adult supervision is also a problem. The family structure has changed and, therefore, we must adapt.

Our daily mission in the leisure field has become very complicated. Not only must we provide a safe environment, but also, and as important, appropriate role models for our users. And, we cannot hide in the sand concerning the increasing violence. As unpleasant as it may be, the leisure field has to face the societal ills straight on.

Security, feeling safe in your surroundings, is not easily accomplished anymore. Proudly, recreation agencies are still among the best places to be in the community. In order to keep it that way, we must be aware of the realities — even gun violence — and be ready to deal with them.

Working closely with your local law enforcement agency is the best way to obtain expertise and monitor the community. What follows is a description of a training experience that opened the eyes for those involved, including Karen Kiester, superintendent of recreation for the River Trails Park District.

Karen Kiester's Journal Entry
Monday, July 3, 2000
A local high school facility

"This is our shooter today," said the officer.

What? Did I hear that correctly? As I stood in the hallway looking at a young man dressed in gym shorts and a T-shirt and holding a large and very real pistol I wondered, What have I gotten myself into this time?

The flyer read: "Violence Preparedness Workshop," organized by Northwest Suburban RAPP (Regional Action Planning Project), a reputable organization. Our thoughts at the River Trails Park District were, with so much violence in the world these days, maybe we can learn valuable information to implement at our district. Little did I know the impact this day would have on me.

The morning began at a local high school. Upon signing in, the name tags had different colored dots on them. We were instructed to choose a tag with the colored dot that best represented the level of involvement we were interested in: orange for the most involvement, white for the least.

Involvement in what? I wondered. Still in the dark, I chose the middle of the road. Safe, right?

Approximately 80 to 100 participants from organizations such as park districts, libraries, school districts, police enforcement agencies and the like were gathered in the auditorium. We were introduced to the local

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police commander, the commander of NIPAS (Northern Illinois Police Alarm System) and a few other police employees of various ranks. It was repeated several times that all the guns that would be used were real weapons loaded with blanks and that they had been checked three to five times to make sure they hadn't missed any real bullets! The officers were proud to announce that they had never had an injury occur during any previous exercise like this.

Again, I thought: What have I gotten myself into this time?

Eventually the officers began calling groups of "dots" to follow them. The red and blue dots (I was red) were lead down one of the main level hallways of the high school. We were divided into three classrooms and instructed to sit and wait.

An officer stuck his head in our classroom and stated that they needed a volunteer to be a runner. Up went my hand. I walked into the hallway and met several police officials, the volunteer runner from the room across the hall and.. .the shooter!

As runners, we were instructed that at some point during the morning, an officer would shout our names. When we heard our name, we were to run out of our classroom, turn and run to the end of the hallway, turn right and run outside. Then we were told that when we began running down the hallway there would be a group of officers pointing guns at us and giving various instructions such as "stop, get down, put your hands up." We were to ignore the officers and just run right past them.

Next, when we ran outside, we would encounter several police officers and vehicles and they would also be pointing guns at us. This time, we were to follow whatever instructions the officers gave us. I thought, OK, I can do this. We headed back to our classrooms to sit and wait. Over the intercom system an announcement was made that the exercise would begin. We heard the shooter on the first floor coming down the hallway and shouting for "Mr. Gary" in a very unfriendly tone. The tension in our classroom was incredibly high. Even knowing this wasn't real didn't help! We all sat in silence, palms sweating, listening and wondering what would happen next.

The shooter stepped into our classroom shouting and waving his gun. As he studied each of us, it was very easy to wish that you could become invisible. Then he started shooting.. .six shots! I literally jumped out of my seat! After the first shot, everyone's hands instinctively raised to cover their ears.

This was the first time I had ever heard a real handgun fired, and it doesn't sound like firecrackers. It is a sound, a loud sound, that I will never forget. I also did not learn until the next day that six shots had been fired. At the time, I was so startled, I would have guessed two to three, it all happened so fast!

We were the lucky classroom. Not finding "Mr. Gary," the shooter moved to the classrooms across the hallway and proceeded to shoot two people, make one beg for his life on hands and knees and make one beg to be shot on his hands and knees. Little to our knowledge at this same time, a second shooter was terrorizing classrooms on the second floor.

At this point, about 45 minutes into the scenario, police, NIPAS members, paramedics and firemen had arrived on the scene and set up command areas outside the school. They began negotiations with the shooter on our floor. Both shooters turned out to be disgruntled students who had been kicked out of school for various reasons and had returned to "do in" the responsible teacher.

In our classroom we were quietly discussing what we thought we might do if this were real. All the while, we were also listening intently to see if we could hear the shooter heading back to our classroom. Then, suddenly, I heard a shout: "Karen! Bob!"

Oh, goodness, that's my cue! With my heart pounding, I jumped up and ran to the classroom door and as my sandals went flying I decided that bare feet would have to do. I turned right and as I began to run down the hallway. All I saw was maybe three or four or five police officers blocking the hallway and pointing guns and rifles at me.

I vaguely heard: "Stop! Put your hands up. Get down on the floor."

But I followed my prior instructions and just kept on running. As I neared the officers, they moved over to the side and let me run past. Bob and I met up at the end of the hallway, turned right and ran through the doors outside. Now I saw several police cars with lots of officers pointing lots of guns at us.

"Stop. Put your hands up on the back of your head. Walk over toward the cars slowly."

This time we followed instruction. We were brought over behind the police cars, frisked and questioned.

"What did you see? Where were you in the building? How many shooters? Male? Female? What was he wearing? White or black?" We were then instructed that had we needed medical attention, the paramedics would have assisted us and our part done. We are allowed to watch and listen to the rest of the scenario. The NIPAS truck was parked and being used as a command post and a tent was set-up and being used as another command post. Police were everywhere. NIPAS members, fully geared in 40 pounds of guns,

The shooter stepped into our classroom shouting and waving his gun. As he studied each of us, it was very easy to wish that you could become invisible.

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ammunition, bulletproof vests and whatever else they carry, were briefed and dispatched in groups of five to enter the school and search for students and teachers and get them out. Throughout the morning "hostages" were brought out as the NIPAS members slowly made their way through the school.

About 2.5 hours after the scenario began it was all over. We all returned to the school auditorium for a quick debriefing and a chance for us to ask the authorities some questions. After a break for lunch we broke into small groups and were lead in discussion by NIPAS members. What an incredible job these people have!

Participating in such an event reminded me that you really never know what is going to happen, anywhere, anytime. I now have a little better understanding of what the police are going through and how they have to approach any such situation.

A point that was driven home in our small group discussion was that in such a situation there are no"always" do this or "never" do those procedures. Every situation is unique. Our employees must be given guidelines, but from there, they will have to assess their situation and make the best decision possible. Teaching them to be calm and to use common sense is essential. It also made me realize how lucky we are to have devoted professionals who volunteer to be trained to protect us, no matter what the situation.

An Administrator Reflects on the
Violence Preparedness Workshop

Sending staff to this workshop gave me pause. After hearing about their experience (each was different) I called Commander Kuzynowski of the Wheeling Police Department and NIPAS and Deputy Commander Bob Haas of the Palatine Police Department to discuss the benefits for the police in using civilians in their training exercise. The main benefit is having"sterile" reactions, instead of using only fellow police staff, who have previous experience.

The police also hope that actually experiencing this type of situation will help if it ever really happens. He wants to instill the need for patience, being calm and understanding the amount of training that the special teams go through to deal correctly with each dilemma. This is a true cooperative program among the Northern Illinois police departments. They have two people on their force who go immediately when called to extreme situations. This way, all of the remaining community does not lose its police protection and the emergency situation is handled by a very dedicated, well-trained team. It is an amazing example of sharing resources and community service.

These people put their lives in jeopardy every day to keep our communities safe. To work with our local police departments increases our understanding of what their job entails and why they do what they do. But it will also increase their understanding of our operation and concerns, which will create an improved working relationship.

This scenario is a nightmare for all of us. You can never be prepared for everything that can happen, but it is important to give thought to protecting participants and staff through policy and procedure training. Contact your local police department and ask what they suggest as procedure and precaution in these situations. •

KAREN KIESTER, CPRP
is superintendent of recreation for the River Trails Park District

DEBBIE CARLSON, CPRP
is the director or parks and recreation for the River Traits Park District

Special thanks to Commander Jim Kuzynowski of the Wheeling Police Department and the Northern Illinois Police Association (NIPAS), and Deputy Commander Bob Haas of the Palatine Police Department.

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