More than 80 law enforcement officers attended a scenario-based training program, "Rapid Deployment to the Active Shooter," hosted Nov. 30 by Cornell Police. The training program was held inside the former Courtside Racquet and Fitness Club on Pine Tree Road.

While Cornell Police have trained for an "active shooter" situation for more than seven years, this is the first time tactics, procedures and communications have been practiced with other surrounding agencies, said Curtis Ostrander, chief of Cornell Police and Cornell's associate vice president for risk management and public safety.

The "Active Shooter" scenario is a practical form of training to reinforce police methods; in this case, the program focused on large-scale shooting incidents similar to those at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech, and it provided officers from different agencies a chance to work together in a simulated situation.

In addition to officers from Cornell Police, officers from six local agencies --the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office, the Ithaca Police Department, Ithaca College's Safety Division and the police departments from the villages of Cayuga Heights, Groton and Dryden -- participated in the training session.

"I hope this is the start of a new era in interagency cooperation around training," Ostrander said. "Whenever there's going to be a major crisis or incident, we need to rely on each other for support. ... This is putting emergency planning into action; it's more than just working out the processes."