Lockdown drill prepares school, police for the real thing

Police officers with mock weapons drawn enter Asotin High School during Thursday's exercise.

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Story Published: Aug 24, 2007 at 1:31 PM PST

Story Updated: Aug 24, 2007 at 1:31 PM PST

By Molly Blancett

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ASOTIN - Fire and police swarmed Asotin High School Thursday morning. But, it was all just part of a drill.

The exercise gave the Asotin-Anatone School District a chance to put their lockdown procedure into practice.

It began early Thursday morning with briefings with teachers, police and fire officials and then the drill got underway.

"There was EMS on location and they took care of the patients,” said Asotin Police Chief Lee Reed. “The officers went in there, secured rooms and they contacted the suspects. It was concluded at about 10:45."

Every junior and senior high school teacher took part. Principal Dale Bonfield was impressed by the cooperation of all the participating agencies. He said he believes the drill only made the teachers and faculty more prepared in case disaster strikes.

"It's unfortunate that we have to practice this, but they do feel a lot more comfortable now than they did going into the situation,” said Bonfield. “I think they feel very good about the protocol that was set up for us."

Everyone agreed that as smoothly as the drill went, there's always room for improvement, especially when it comes to communication.

"In any big scenario or any big situation whether it's practice or real life, there's always a communication issue,” said Clarkston Police Department Patrol Commander Jim Smith. “There are always areas where you can't get out or a lot of people are talking or wanting to give good information, but sometimes the people getting it don't need it at a certain time. But, it's nothing we haven't done before and nothing we can't fix."

"The only thing we saw is that we have to practice it more so that teachers feel comfortable with the information that's in there," said Bonfield.

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