Mississippi Active Shooter Training Evaluation (MASTE)

The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program, administered by the Office of Justice Programs' (OJP's) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), furthers the Department's mission by assisting state and local jurisdictions in improving the criminal justice system and assisting communities in preventing drug abuse and crime. In fiscal year 2007, the Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program will focus on funding local, regional, and national efforts within six major categories: 1) targeting violent crime; 2) preventing crime and drug abuse; 3) enhancing local law enforcement; 4) enhancing local courts; 5) enhancing local corrections and offender reentry; and 6) facilitating justice information sharing. All categories combat, address, or otherwise respond to precipitous or extraordinary increases in crime, or in a type or types of crime.

Mississippi State University (MSU) will utilize the FY 2007 BJA Byrne Discretionary: Enhancing Local Law Enforcement Award to implement the Mississippi Active Shooter Training Evaluation (MASTE), which will provide cost effective tactical training to the Mississippi State University Police Department (MSUPD) and the Starkville Police Department (SPD) in responding to active shooter events through a 'train-the-trainer' program. The goal of this project is to equip the first responder patrol officers with the necessary skills to handle events such as the Virginia Tech incident, in an effort to decrease the risk of civilian fatalities. Through this award, a select group of officers from MSUPD and SPD will attend the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Active Shooter training course offered by Texas State University and will develop training programs for patrol officers based on the ALERRT curriculum and their departmental needs. Grant funds will also allow MSU to evaluate the effectiveness of the train-the-trainer paradigm and the local training as it is applied to the patrol officers within the Starkville and Mississippi State University Police Departments.

CA/NCF