Welcome
Small ideas turn into huge successes when you find the right people to carry something forward. The Wisconsin Active Threat Training Association was born out of an event that was literally scribbled out on napkins at a restaurant down in San Marcos, TX in 2016. Jay Darin, Special Agent, had a passion to make Wisconsin one of the best trained States in the country when it comes to preparation for Active Threat situations and this organization carries that vision forward through an annual conference that brings together police, fire, EMS, security, hospital, school, and other officials to learn in the same training environment; to integrate our response.
Why we do what we do.
A group of public safety personnel flew down to Texas in 2016 to attend the ALERRT Conference where a small idea for a more local conference that made a strong impact became a reality. There were a few basic ideas about why this conference was and continues to be important and those remain true to this date.
1 – We wanted to be the best at what we do. Listening to professionals who have lived experience managing active threat situations can sharpen our skills.
2 – We wanted to bring First Responders into the same training space. Showing up as a team whether we’re police, fire, EMS, security, dispatchers, or any other professional is what we need. We have to be integrated in our response. This conference levels the playing field and hopefully, forces us to learn new perspectives that grow our capacity to respond together.
3 – We wanted to grow our Response Network. When a situation like this happens; it crosses all jurisdictional lines because no one stands around waiting for you to ask for help; they show up, and here we can begin relationships that will make the influx of support easier and more effective.
In the first point, it was said that these speakers can sharpen our skills. The 'can' in that statement is there because being at a conference doesn’t automatically sharpen skills. We need to be present, we need to open our minds to new ideas, we need humility to accept that we’re not perfect now and we won’t be perfect when we leave and we need to know that if we lean in, listen intently, and take a few strong concepts back to our agencies we won’t just sharpen our skills we will advance the way our entire department is prepared to manage the situations that are inevitably headed your way.
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If you'd like to be a part of something this important then sign up, show up, and take something back. If you're not sure if you're ready for something like this then evaluate your mission and what you signed up to do then sign up for the conference and grow into the person who's ready.