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Vermont police criticized for school demonstration with fake shooter
The robbery simulation, which reportedly featured a masked assailant and realistic gunshot sounds, caught the class of Vermont high schoolers off guard.
A class of Vermont high schoolers was reportedly left shaken Wednesday after members of the Burlington Police Department staged a robbery demonstration that included mock gunfire.
A group of about 20 Burlington High School students was visiting the police station on a field trip, and the simulation — which featured a masked assailant and realistic gunshot sounds — apparently caught the class off guard, Vermont Public reported.
One student told the news outlet she crawled under a desk and scrambled for her cellphone to text her mother after two screaming women and a man in a ski mask burst into the room and shots rang out. She told Vermont Public there was “no heads up” prior to the demonstration, which left her in tears.
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In a statement Thursday, the Burlington Police Department said it “apologizes to any students in attendance who were upset by the specific scenario and crime scene portion of the presentation.”
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The roleplaying scenario was not targeted at any students or faculty, the department clarified.
According to the statement, Burlington police communicated with staff from the high school’s Year End Studies (YES) Program in May to discuss details of the demonstration, “including saying that the training incident would involve ‘using fake firearms in a mock shooting.’”
The police department said it asked school staff whether the simulation would be appropriate for students, explaining, “It is about as real life as you can get, and is certainly exactly the sort of thing we deal with most frequently.”
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Burlington police said school staff responded, “I think these students will be fine with this simulation. We will give a heads up to parents and students.”
Vermont Public obtained a letter sent to students’ families Wednesday, in which school staff acknowledged they were “aware a reenactment of a gunshot related crime would occur, but didn’t realize the presentation would happen without warning.” A Burlington School District spokesperson did not respond to Boston.com’s requests for comment Friday.
In their letter, school staff explained the purpose of the demonstration was “to make a point about how witness statements can be unreliable, and detectives wanted the event to be as realistic as possible,” according to Vermont Public.
In a statement provided to Boston.com, Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak apologized “for the harm and distress this incident caused Burlington High School students — students who have tragically grown up in a society where gun violence, including in school settings, has become commonplace.”
Emphasizing “best practices” for simulations like the one shown to students Wednesday, Mulvaney-Stanak pointed to the state law governing school safety drills, “which requires schools to ensure drills are trauma-informed, age appropriate, and with proactive communication to both parents and students about the planned drill and that students can opt out.”
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The school district has since apologized to parents and offered counseling services for students who attended the field trip, Seven Days reported. One mother who spoke with the news outlet said the incident left her “baffled.”
“It is a very real threat to kids these days to have a school shooting,” she told Seven Days. “It’s something they worry about.”
The Burlington Police Department said it would meet with students and staff on Friday “to discuss the presentation and its impact.”
In her own statement, the mayor added: “My expectation is that both Burlington School District and the Police Department will take responsibility for the harm caused and be self-reflective about all the ways this should have been handled differently and will not be repeated in the future.”
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