On Monday’s opinion page, we wrote a small blurb about the C.R.A.S.E. training the LaGrange Police Department hosted last week at its training center on Aerotron Parkway, but today we wanted to dig in a bit deeper.

C.R.A.S.E. stands for Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events and around 50 people participated in the training. The crowd was the largest the LaGrange Police Department has had in several years of hosting the training. Our guess is the large crowd was probably a combination of the training being in its third year and the current state of the world.

The training gave citizens a chance to ask police officers how an active shooter situation would be handled, if it happened in LaGrange. The LPD uses the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT), which was created in 2002 as a partnership between Texas State University, the San Marcos, the Texas Police Department and the Hays County Texas Sheriff’s Office.

The training discuses being aware of your surroundings and reacting appropriately if something seems off. For instance, if you hear what sounds like “fireworks” in the middle of the day in February, something might be wrong.

Other parts of the training included having a survivor mentality. Officers presented facts that showed most people involved an active shooter event survive.

One fact in particular stood out — Active shooter events are often over before police arrive, even if the police arrive within two to three minutes. They just don’t last very long.

That’s why it’s important to use the LPD’s recommended tactics — avoid, deny and defend. Avoid the area, if possible. If that doesn’t work, deny the intruder access and create as many barriers between that person and you. And if neither of those work, be aggressive and committed to your actions.  We appreciate the LPD hosting this event and hope the class continues to grow over the years. The LPD also hosts a citizens’ police academy twice a year, which goes over the entire police department and how it operates.

Both are a service to citizens and benefit LaGrange as a whole.