Lanier Technical College holds "active shooter" evacuation drill at Forsyth Campus.

The purpose of the evacuation drill was to practice an evacuation of the college protocol developed by the College and local law enforcement agencies, including the Forsyth County and Dawson Sheriffs’ Departments, and Security Advisors of the Technical College System of Georgia.

FCSD, DCSD, TCSG experts, plus the College leadership, staff, and faculty went into action when a pre-planned alert was sent via the College’s electronicLanier Alert system.

Every room--office, restroom, classroom, storage room, stairwell, nook and cranny—was opened and searched for “survivors”, then the occupants were directed by law enforcement officers to secure, safe staging areas on the Forsyth Campus.

Captain Harry Chapman of the Hall County Sheriff’s Dept. and LTC’s Criminal Justice Lead Instructor, coordinated the drill for the College. At the exercise debriefing, Capt. Chapman explained that the exercise was designed to show “what worked and what needed improvement”.

Captain Chapman noted, “We were pleased with the results of the exercise.We try to have some things fail to test what would be necessary to solve problems during crisis management situations. Problems that exist need to be improved or at least identified. We will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of our crisis management system.”

Although the College performance was very good, Lanier Tech President, Dr. Ray Perren, said during the multi-hour debriefing that the College would immediately act on recommendations from the law enforcement and TCSG officials. Dr. Perren further indicated that similar exercises would be conducted at every Lanier Technical College campus.

Lanier Technical College has a 100% job placement rate and offers over 40 programs of study in some of the nation’s fastest-growing career fields including healthcare, energy, business and industry, and public or private service. More information about Lanier Technical College and Dual Enrollment may be obtained by calling 770-531-6300 or by visitingwww.laniertech.edu. Lanier Technical College is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.