If one were to drive through Cadiz and see a caravan of law enforcement vehicles around the Trigg County Middle School this week, there’s no reason to be alarmed.
This Monday through Thursday, the newest building on campus is serving as the ultimate training ground for active shooter training — but not just any active shooter training.
According to Cadiz Police Chief Duncan Wiggins, this training is called “ALERRT.” It’s paid for by federal funding, and it’s trained more than 146,000 officers worldwide on what to do, in the event such a tragedy occurs.
Wiggins said officers from Kentucky, Tennessee — and even Canada — will be in Trigg County this week, learning the ropes on the who, what, where, why and when about response, retaliation and recovery in scenarios like these.
And for a third time in his career, Wiggins will once again be a student of the training.
Should the training go well, Wiggins anticipates that ALERRT and training similar to it will return to Trigg County and its school district.
The halls of a local school have already served as a place of critical thinking, problem solving and higher learning once this year. On July 21 and 22, law enforcement from Cadiz, Stewart County, Tennessee and Christian County conducted a smaller active-shooter training classroom and scenario at Trigg County High School — an unfortunate, but invaluable, necessity.
While that training was extremely serious, this week’s work will be even more so. This class is tough by two instructors, as well as an FBI agent.
In other police news:
— Wiggins noted the month of November was a needed lull after the Country Ham Festival and before Christmas. The department investigated 29 cases and arrested five, answered 251 calls of service, made 11 traffic stops, wrote 44 citations, managed 12 vehicle collisions (one with injury), and opened nine cases through code enforcement while closing five. In all, Wiggins said this was 40% below their average volume.
