The BHPD will conduct a training exercise at Hawthorne Elementary School on Friday, Aug. 12. (Beverly Press/Park Labrea News file photo)
The Beverly Hills Police Department and the city’s Fire Department will conduct an active-shooter training exercise at Hawthorne Elementary School from 8-11 a.m. on Aug. 12 to help first responders prepare for the possibility of a major emergency.
According to a press release, the exercise will simulate the discharge of weapons and the treatment of “victims.” BHPD Lt. Giovanni Trejo said such exercises are important when training first responders.
“I think it’s always good for training procedures [and] theory to be put in practice – and to train on that theory in order for things to flow smoothly when or if something critical should arise,” he said. “Plans and operations and theory on paper is good to have; however, it’s crucial for the theory to be applied to real life, as much as real life can be simulated.”
Trejo said several incidents have occurred nationwide recently and in the past, but no particular event spurred the training exercise. He said Police Chief Mark Stainbrook has made such drills a priority.
“In the event that something critical happens, then, hopefully, the faculty, members of the police department, members of the fire department and administrators with the Beverly Hills Unified School District are ready to act,” Trejo added. “And that’s the goal of this training scenario on this day.”
He said the department will continue to work with district officials on safety protocols.
“We will always be ready to partake in any training with school district officials and our city partners,” Trejo added.
During the Aug. 9 BHUSD Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Michael Bregy mentioned the training exercise and said the district continues to cultivate its partnership with the city.
“They are in our schools, they are practicing in our schools [and] they are doing advanced tactic drills in our schools,” he said.
Bregy said the district welcomes the collaboration, although the exercise “could be a little noisy.”
“This is going to continue on,” he added. “We want to work with our police department. We want our schools to be as familiar as possible to our police department. We are well ahead of where we would like to be in this area. We are excited about this partnership.”
The superintendent also said that he and the district’s new director of school safety, Mark Mead, have met with city officials and the police department “five or six times” over the summer.
“That’s a great partnership, and I want you to be rest assured that’s only increasing and improving, and we’re doing so many of the same things – following the same practices, using the same terminology – so we can be the best we can in safety and security,” Bregy said.
Trejo said the BHPD held a similar exercise at Beverly Hills High School recently, but it hadn’t conducted a training scenario at Hawthorne for quite some time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the public outreach about the event has been “robust,” and that the department has delivered flyers to residents in the area. The department is also going to use social media and signage to alert residents.
“We are using methods available to us to make sure the community understands that there may be loud noise,” Trejo said. “There may also be loud talking – maybe even screaming – coming from the campus.”
He said the police department wants residents to understand that the safety of Beverly Hills students is priority for the BHPD. In fact, the department is working on assigning an additional resource officer to the schools, Trejo said.
“That’s something that will be coming in the very near future,” he added.
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