Daytona Beach, FL – What would you do if you were face-to-face with a lone gunman in public and no law enforcement around to protect you?
That’s the scenario the Daytona Beach Police Department wants you to imagine as part of a special workshop Thursday night that’s free to the public.
DBPD Chief Mike Chitwood says the seminar – done in partnership with the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Daytona Beach Black Clergy Alliance – was born as a response to the Charleston church shooting earlier this summer where 9 people died.
“After the shooting in Charleston, I met with the pastors and the NAACP and we discussed ways to target-harden the churches in our city,” Chitwood added. “Out of that meeting, we then put on an hour presentation for all of the pastors and for their staffs.”
From there, Chitwood says it was a logical step to take that presentation and apply it to other places many people gather, such as schools, malls, restaurants and movie theaters.
“Unfortunately, it’s a danger that we’re dealing with,” Chitwood stated. “It’s a lone wolf terrorist that can turn a community on its ear.”
The goal of the workshop is to teach the public about the kinds of preventative actions needed to stop “lone wolf” terrorists from inflicting damage as well as teach people how to stay alive in those kinds of situations.
“The whole purpose of this seminar is to get people to think about what to do in the event they are confronted with an active shooter,” Chitwood noted. “The people who stay calm and have a plan are more likely to survive.”
A big part of the seminar will be about teaching people ways to spot a “lone wolf” before something actually happens, according to Chitwood.
“A lot of these active shooter incidents can be avoided if people know what the clues are,” Chitwood added. “The case in Charleston was a classic example. Everybody knew [Dylann Roof] talked about shooting up a church or shooting up a school and nobody took him seriously. Then you turn on the evening news and look at what he did.”
The 2-hour workshop will start at 6pm from DBPD headquarters at 129 Valor Boulevard.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.