CARIBOU, Maine — Caribou’s school district has joined others in Aroostook County in partnering with federal and local law enforcement to better prepare for active shooter emergencies.
At Caribou Community School Wednesday, 10 officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Caribou Police Department trained how to respond effectively if an active shooter entered the school. Customs and Border Protection has hosted other school-based training with police officers in Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle, Fort Kent and with Aroostook County sheriff’s deputies.
It was the first time Customs and Border Protection officers trained at Caribou Community School, which opened in 2020 and serves 776 pre-K to grade eight students. There are border stations in Fort Fairfield, Van Buren and Houlton in Aroostook County which means officers can respond quickly to area schools.
“Preparation and familiarity are key when responding to emergencies that may arise,” said Dan Randall, port director for Customs and Border Protection in Houlton. “We want to be familiar with the school’s layout [during a response].”
Aroostook County has never seen a mass shooting but the gravity of those tragedies hit closer to home in October after a gunman opened fire in Lewiston, first at a bowling alley, then at a nearby bar and grill, killing 18 people. It was the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history and among the deadliest in the U.S. this year.
Randall said that the Lewiston shooting has not had an immediate effect on Customs and Border Protections’ approach to training.
Schools have been increasingly concerned about gun violence in the aftermath of similar tragedies within the past few decades, including those at Columbine, Sandy Hook and Parkland. Debates about safety and security often focus on whether school resource officers are necessary, and how to prioritize students’ mental health.
Though Wednesday’s training will not affect the Caribou school’s own active shooter response training, it’s one way administrators want to strengthen ties with law enforcement, said Assistant Principal Travis Barnes.
“We’re providing a space for them to become more familiar with the school,” Barnes said.
Prior to COVID, Aroostook schools had been active in ALICE training. ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate and emphasizes how students and staff can escape from or secure themselves inside, or, as a last resort, retaliate against an active shooter. Police departments from Madawaska to Houlton had been trained in ALICE in order to teach those techniques in the region’s schools.
In a November letter to families, Jane McCall, superintendent of Caribou schools, said that if a full lockdown becomes necessary, the schools will utilize ALICE training during the situation.
While at Caribou Community School Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection officers demonstrated how to best get into formation and protect each other while patrolling the school for potential threats. Officers wore bulletproof vests clearly labeled “police” and carried unloaded firearms.
Students and staff were not present, as the school district is currently on holiday break.
Officers trained in multiple areas of the school to increase their familiarity with the space, Randall said.
