Starting Tuesday, members from Alberta RCMP detachments will be engaging in a specialized tactical training session at St. Timothy High School in Cochrane.

The training will run from March 29 until April 1, utilizing the school campus for the Immediate Action Rapid Deployment (IARD), which was developed in response to the growing number of mass shootings in North America over the last decade. 

This training will prepare members to act quickly when responding to life threatening situations that escalate to potential hostage cases and mass injuries.

During the exercises officers will be moving around the school with simulated weapons shooting paintballs at counterfeit threats.

Sgt. Jeff Campbell of the Cochrane RCMP says that new officers receive this training while at the RCMP training Academy, but this week is for those already in the field.

"We have been really ramping up training, so these started back in 2014 after the McNeal report where they started out training every recruit class coming out of Regina, our training Depot in Regina, every recruit class now gets this training and we needed to get this out to the officers who were already out in the field."

Campbell says that the Columbine incident back in 1999 changed police tactics and the new IARD program is helping officers deal with individuals with the intent of harming and killing people in large settings.

"Last year in North America alone, we had over 350 active assailants or active threat incidents."

History has shown that these incidents escalate rapidly and police can no longer wait for emergency response or SWAT teams. 

"Statistically they show that these threats are done usually within the first 15 to 20 minutes where most people have been injured or killed at that time."

Campbell says that the Columbine incident was over in under 20 minutes but it took hours before SWAT teams went into the school.

St. Timothy High School will be empty during the exercises with all students on Easter break.