On Sunday, May 12, 2013, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) Police Department conducted an “Active Shooter/ Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Response Drill” inside the T.F. Green Airport terminal from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. The RIAC Police Department has been conducting active shooter training for several years (it is important to note this exercise was planned well in advance of the Newtown, CT and Aurora, CO incidents).
The RIAC Police department was joined in the drill by the RIAC Aircraft Rescue and Fire Department (AARF) and their mutual aid partners from the RI State Police, Warwick Police, Warwick Fire/EMS, the Transportation Security Administration (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI).
Police Chief Leo Messier stated “This drill was a great learning experience for the members of our police department to actually exercise our active shooter protocol and training in our own airport environment. We would like to publically thank all of those agencies that participated in this drill and also the many volunteers, who worked to make the drill as realistic as possible to simulate an actual active shooter type scenario, including the stress and emotions of the 1st responders.”
Chief Messier praised the RIAC police, and in particular, Lt. David Shinskey, who took the lead in the planning and organizing of this drill and played an important role in its success.
Kelly Fredericks, RIAC President and CEO, said, “The purpose of this event is to test our ability to effectively work with other mutual response agencies in a crisis situation. Since the safety and security of our passengers is always a top priority, regular exercises like this helps us to continuously improve our response through coordination with all the outside agencies.”
For additional information, contact Patti Goldstein, Vice President of Public Affairs and Air Service Marketing at 691-2272/ [email protected].