Next week, Columbus Main Street member businesses will have a chance to learn what to do if the worst happens in the workplace.
Main Street will host an active shooter preparation class at 8 a.m. on Feb. 16 in the second floor of the Columbus Arts Council building. Main Street Director Barbara Bigelow said it will be the first time the organization has offered the class. She said it should take a little less than an hour.
“This class would help our businesses put protocols in place to deal with unexpected happenings like this,” she said. “We hope our community is never faced with this, but it’s a possibility and we should be prepared.”
Columbus Assistant Police Chief Fred Shelton is instructing the class.
He said it will focus on a variety topics, including how to interact with the police once they arrive on scene, or how best inform them of the situation–where the attacker is, if there are hostages and other information–when contacting them.
“This hasn’t happened here, but we want businesses to be prepared and have a plan of action so they can know how to mitigate the circumstances,” he said. “It’s very important to be prepared, especially in the society we live in today with people coming to the workplace to make statements. It could be a lot of different things–it might be a disgruntled husband, or someone who just got fired who may decide to make a stand.”
Bigelow said about 30 people are already expected to attend the class, with more businesses still gathering counts of how many employees will attend.
She said the feedback so far has been positive, even for the admittedly unorthodox topic.
“At first, I think some of them were a little skeptical,” Bigelow said. “None of us ever want to think someone is going to walk in the front door and cause a situation like that, and it’s certainly not something we want to happen.
“To me, it’s a responsibility of a business owner to do all they can to protect their business and employees and make them aware of things and what they can do if something like this were to happen.”
Shelton is providing the class to Main Street for no cost. He’s also taught it for Columbus Light and Water employees and several are churches.
“This is something that, if something happens, Columbus Police Department is going to be responding,” he said. “We want to be good neighbors and good partners and be sure we’re equipping them with the information to make sure they’re safe and the people who are visiting and coming into Columbus are safe.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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