TEMPLE, Texas — A lot has changed for school safety after the Uvalde school shooting, including more law enforcement agencies getting active shooter training.
25 News talked to a few police departments in Central Texas that say they’re getting the mandated training required by the state.
During the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde it took officers 77 minutes to engage the gunman.
After that, Texas mandated all police officers take 16 hours of active shooter training every two years.
This is something that Temple Police say they were already doing.
City of Temple Spokesperson Megan Price says, “They did attend alert training before the Uvalde shooting — it was called ALERT OR advanced law enforcement rapid response training," said City of Temple spokesperson, Megan Price.
"They were attending, but not on a two year period like it is now.”
Waco police say they also attended active shooting training before Uvalde, and they start next month to get the whole department trained by next year.
A nationwide analysis showed that no states "mandated training" for officers before Uvalde, so the department of justice suggested eight hours of training annually - which is why Texas does 16 hours every two years.
P“Our officers learn not just physical, but mental skills and learn and practice and are better equipped," Pride said.
Only Texas and Michigan have laws requiring all officer to complete active shooter training after the police academy.
Temple Police held a tabletop exercise in June with Belton ISD to focus on school active shooters specifically.
“We work with Belton ISD for school centered active shooting because the safety of our children is important.”
Temple ISD tells 25 News they have another Belton ISD training coming up soon in the Spring.
