Sycamore Police Department Hosts Tabletop Exercise in Collaboration with Sycamore Community School District 427 and Sycamore Fire Department

Sycamore, Illinois - Sycamore Community School District 427, Sycamore Police Department, and Sycamore Fire Department recently participated in a tabletop exercise led by Police Chief Jim Winters. The exercise was held on August 29, 2023, at the Sycamore Police Department. A tabletop exercise is a hypothetical crisis situation designed for training purposes; there was no active crisis during this exercise.

The purpose of the exercise was to collaboratively review and discuss each organization’s role in the event of a crisis. The hypothetical scenario discussed during this exercise was an active shooter in a school setting. Participants were given details of the scenario and had to work together to review and discuss a response plan. The exercise was designed to test the emergency protocols and identify areas for improvement. 

"We are committed to ensuring the safety of our students and staff," said Steve Wilder, Superintendent of Sycamore Community School District 427. "This exercise provided us with valuable insights into our emergency response procedures, and we will use the lessons learned for future planning. In addition, it gave us the opportunity to further our understanding of how law enforcement, the fire department, and other emergency responders address these types of situations."

The exercise was a collaborative effort between the school district, police department, and fire department. 

“The tabletop was a beneficial platform to collectively discuss capabilities and protocols, and to collaborate on how to best integrate response and communication during a critical event, said Police Chief, Jim Winters. “The exercise allowed those participating some insight into why and how all partners would approach an event, with the common priority being the safety of all involved.” 
“All of the organizations involved have different goals in an emergency such as this.  Police seek to stop the threat, firefighters seek to treat the injured, and the school district seeks to evacuate or secure the students quickly,” said Fire Chief, Bart Gilmore. “An exercise like this tabletop exercise helps all three organizations to achieve those goals and mitigate the incident through discussion of each other’s action plans and synthesizing them into one effective strategy.”

There are plans to conduct more exercises like this in the future to ensure that emergency response procedures are reviewed regularly and remain up-to-date and effective.

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