Since 2002, the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Program at Texas State University has been delivering vital training to law enforcement officers and military personnel across the nation. ALERRT has trained more than 32,000 officers in active shooter response  to date,  through more than $22 million in state and federal funding. 

Officers working along our violent southern border and others working in rural areas of states across the United States asked for training to deal with violent situations they face outside of buildings and urban settings.   In addition to developing and delivering training courses to better prepare this country’s first-responders to effectively respond to acts of violence against its citizens, ALERRT also works with the Bureau of Justice Assistance on initiatives such as Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement Officer Resilience and Survivability Initiative (VALOR) to stem the violence directed against the officers themselves. 

From the 1966 Tower shooting at the University of Texas, to the coordinated terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India in 2008, to the Fort Hood shooting in 2009, the best lesson learned is to be prepared. While we hope that such active shooter events will never happen in our backyards, the ALERRT staff at Texas State has developed a new standard in active shooter response and law enforcement professionals across the nation are carrying this standard forward.   

In addition to in-depth after-action lessons learned through partnerships with agencies who have been involved in headline-making active shooter situations, ALERRT has engaged a criminal justice research professor to evaluate and enhance the overall understanding of active shooter events and assist in improving law enforcement best practices.  

Mississippi, Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, and South Carolina are among the first states to train and adopt the ALERRT curriculum as their state standard in active shooter response. Other states are moving forward with this as their standard and many large cities (Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and San Antonio) are training all of their front line officers in ALERRT tactics and standards. 

Beyond ALERRT, there are no training programs currently providing this vital training on a national level.  Similarly, there has not been a national standard for this critical response training before ALERRT.  While much of the training is delivered on-site in cities around the country, ALERRT also has a multimillion-dollar training facility in San Marcos for advanced active shooter response training. 

In its tenth year, ALERRT has grown to include eight active shooter response courses in the training catalog and will be delivering nearly 200 classes to more than 4000 law enforcement professionals across the United States in 2011.  

For more information, please contact: Diana Hendricks, Director of Communications
Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training
Texas State University | San Marcos
102 Wonder World Drive, Suite 307 • San Marcos, Texas 78666
Office – 512.245.1744  | Cell – 512.618.3373
hendricks@alerrt.com |  www.alerrt.org