State Police Participate in Mock Preparedness Drill at Swampscott High School

On Tuesday, March 14, 2006, the Massachusetts State Police participated in a mock emergency preparedness drill at the Swampscott High School. The mock lock down drill was designed to assist school faculty and students to respond to a potential threat inside the building and to keep the students safe.

Participating in the lock down drill was the Swampscott High School, Swampscott Police and Fire Department's, the Massachusetts State Police and Action Ambulance. The drill was also observed by members of the Lynn and Salem Police Department's. The lock down drill commenced at 9:50 a.m. and concluded at 10:15 a.m. with a debriefing on the drill by all participating members and observers. The State Police Special Tactical Operations Team (STOP) and the Swampscott Police and Fire Department divided the school into three zones and monitored the drill from inside the building. Swampscott Police Chief Ronald Madigan was the designated Incident Commander for the lock down drill.

The students and teachers were placed in lock down inside their classrooms. Teachers then called the main office to give a head count for all students within their respective classrooms. The Swampscott Police and Fire Departments and State Police STOP Team members led by Sergeant Michael Domnarski then checked each classroom to ascertain if there we any problems inside the classroom.

The State Police K-9 units led by Sgt. Michael Fiore, Crisis Negotiations led by Sgt. Cindy Doty, Troop A Headquarters personnel Captain Greg Foley, Lt. Dean Bennett, Sgt. Byron Rizos, Sgt. Michael Holleran of Crime Scene Services, and Tprs. Matthew Sheehan and Daniel Clemens all participated in the mock preparedness drill.