SFPD completes active assailant response training
November 21, 2025
For the past two Saturdays, Nov. 8 and 15, 青青草视频 Police Department participated in important training for an active assailant response. These identical trainings offered valuable experience for its participants to better prepare them for potential emergencies.
As with any training, important lessons were learned. While the training was announced in advance on the College鈥檚 NewSFeed email, on Nov. 15 misinformation was shared on external social media during the exercise. The message, and the realistic nature of the training scenarios may have caused concern for people who were on campus at the time. Accordingly, SF has enhanced its communications plan to ensure the college community is fully aware of any such events in the future.
As is the practice of SFPD鈥檚 award-winning department 鈥� who are trained to evaluate the full scope of the execution of their duties 鈥� lessons emerged from this important, proactive exercise in a series of debriefs, with valuable feedback from trainers.
Using space in and around buildings on the Northwest Campus, participants ran scenarios where officers moved between and through the buildings as if pursuing an actual active assailant with actors, from SF and Eastside High School, portraying victims, and trainers portraying assailants.
During the training, access was blocked to the areas, signage was in place, and training officers in red shirts were visible to maintain a safe environment.
SFPD Sgt. Matthew Walters, who has deep experience leading this type of training, said working through real-life situations helps prepare officers to respond effectively in emergencies by training them to work through the situations and extreme stresses that they are likely to encounter.
SFPD trainers were assisted by trainers from the Gainesville Police Department and the Alachua County Fire Rescue SWAT medics. The medics also participated in portions of the exercises.
Walters also complimented SF鈥檚 Heather Albright, role-player coordinator, and Claire Orenduff, who helped direct student, faculty and staff re-enactors to provide the level of realism necessary to accurately recreate the scenario.
Communication during an actual emergency
It is important to recognize that in an actual emergency, the College would use all of its communications tools, including emergency text messages, calls and emails, social media, and the website to convey the authenticity of the alert, as well as communicating with news media. This communication would also direct those in the campus community what actions to take, such as evacuating, sheltering-in-place and/or staying away from campus.
If you haven鈥檛 already, please sign up for the College鈥檚 Emergency Notifications:
路 Employees鈥痗an manage their notification settings by selecting鈥�"Emergency Notification Information"鈥痷nder鈥�"My Information"鈥痠n鈥痚Staff.
路 Students鈥痗an update their preferences by visiting鈥�"Emergency Notification Information"鈥痷nder鈥�"My Info/Status"鈥痠n鈥痚SantaFe.
For details on what to expect visit SFPD鈥檚 Emergency Preparedness page.
The safety and security of our students, employees and visitors continues to be our highest priority. Training, awareness and effective and timely communications are critical to our ability to ensure the safety of those on and around our facilities.
