Downingtown Detective Leads Chester County’s Police Training Program on Active Shooters

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Paul Trautmann, inset.

Paul Trautmann, a detective with the Downingtown Police Department, has taken the lead on an initiative to revamp Chester County’s police training program on active shooters, writes Ginger Dunbar for the Daily Local News.

During his time as a police officer in Delaware County, Trautmann was one of the responders to a Springfield Mall shooting in 1985. It resulted in the deaths of three people and injuries to seven others.

“It’s something that stays with you forever,” he said. “It makes you passionate to do the right thing.”

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The Police Chiefs Association and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office started the initiative to revamp the county’s program. Former Downingtown police chief James McGowan asked Trautmann to take the lead.

The detective said that active shooter situations used to be handled differently, but school shootings have changed the way police handles those threats. Today, police officers are taught to prepare themselves for the shooter being a teenager.

As part of the initiative, Trautmann, Caln Police Sgt. Kevin Bernard, West Chester Police Lt. James Morehead, and West Goshen Police Lt. Michael Carroll have developed active shooter drills.

Read more about the initiative in the Daily Local News here.

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