CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Aransas Pass Police Department is taking preventative measures to ensure the safety of people in the Coastal Bend community. They're doing that by sharing what they know through a 5-part course.
"We started the Civilian Defense Academy two years ago. We just had our first class for this year,” Assistant Police Chief Aaron Jones said.
Jones and other city officials will be covering threat identification during an active shooter event, how to quickly control bleeding, the importance of keeping your technology safe and learning how emergency operations work during an emergency.
"Our whole point between all these courses is to have people at least think about what their options would be that way they'll respond quicker in a real-life situation,” Jones said.
The first class that took place on Thursday went over responding to an active shooter.
Jones wants participants to get hands-on learning.
"We want them to be able to experience that through a training environment just like we do to our officers rather than experiencing it for the first time in an actual event,” Jones said.
The training is being offered to people in Aransas Pass and surrounding communities.
Michael Patterson did the 5-part course last year and he's doing it again this year. Patterson told KRIS 6 News that he now feels confident facing highly stressful situations. Jones said that's the goal.
"All these skills and everything we're talking about covers everything from being at a restaurant and something happening, them being witness or being involved in a car crash. To general things that they can use to protect themselves,” Jones said.
At the end of the Civilian Defense Academy, participants will receive a certificate of completion and walk away with the knowledge to protect themselves and the people around them.
If interested in participating, sign uphere.
