Bank of Canton Hosts 'ALICE' Shooter Response Training

More than 100 police, safety and school officials from across the county descended upon the Bank of Canton headquarters earlier this month to take part in a shooter-response training seminar.

The event, hosted by Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey last week, involved the presentation of the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) program, which was developed by former SWAT police officer Greg Cane and Lisa Cane, a school principal.

The training was held in donated seminar space at the headquarters of the Bank of Canton; live-action demonstration was held in the now-vacant Avery School in Dedham.

The classroom training included an analysis of 25 years of school shooting incidents, and which actions helped end the incidents more quickly with fewer lives lost, and which protocols appeared to be counter-productive.

“The strict lockdown model has become almost a default protocol to any violent intruder incident,” Morrissey said in a statement Thursday. “But there is a growing conversation nationally whether a more flexible response, including evacuating the building, barricading the doors and other actions, might not save lives. We wanted to bring Norfolk County schools and police into that conversation, so that they can weigh all of the options available to keep their students safe.”

Morrissey said he hopes the information provided can help towns with future planning.

“Every community should have a plan, but that plan must be developed at the local level, with input from the police and school community,” he said.

Editor's Note: Information for this article was provided by the office of Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey.