Active Threat Options Based Decisions

The A.L.I.C.E. Training Program

After the April 20, 1999, Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, a law enforcement officer named Greg Crane created the A.L.I.C.E. training program out of his desire to equip people with a better plan in case of an active threat event. It has become the accepted training response framework in the United States. The Wheaton Police Department recommends that all Wheaton area schools, businesses, and public services provide A.L.I.C.E training to its constituents to prepare for an active threat. Wheaton College will provide both in-person and online options for this training.

A.L.I.C.E. is a program that trains people to know their options if an active threat is encountered. The A.L.I.C.E. option(s) utilized in an emergency should match the situation; the options are not sequential steps.

 

A.L.I.C.E. definitions and descriptions

• Alert - The first notification of danger.
• Lockdown - Barricade the room. Prepare to evacuate or counter if needed.
• Inform - Communicate the violent intruder’s location and direction in real time to people nearby and to 911.
• Counter - Create noise, movement, distance, and distraction if near someone who is presenting as an active threat. Counter is NOT fighting.
• Evacuate - When safe to do so, run from the danger zone to a location communicated to you from Public Safety via an emergency cell phone message.

Follow up questions may be directed to:

Wheaton College Public Safety
630.752.5911
public.safety@wheaton.edu

or

Wheaton Police Department
630.260.2161
police@wheaton.il.us

Adapted with permission from the Wheaton Police Department, 900 West Liberty Drive, Wheaton, IL 60187.