How OKC’s Metro Tech Prepares Future Law Enforcement Officers For Every Scenario

The latest data from CNN’s school shooting database shows America is on pace to set another record for school shootings.

Law enforcement also interacts with firearms more in the Oklahoma City metro community. Metro Tech’s Public Safety Academy prepares the next generation of law enforcement professionals. 

Metro Tech’s new active shooter training facility 

Metro Tech passed a bond in 2019 to build a new facility for active shooter training. The school opened that space last year. This building gives students and current law enforcement officers the chance to practice in realistic scenarios, helping them prepare for any situation. 

Meet Capitol Hill High School senior Alexandra Reyes 

Reyes attends Metro Tech to jump-start her education in criminal justice. She carries a passion for public service. Reyes wants to study criminal justice at the University of Central Oklahoma and hopes to work for the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation one day. 

“Making sure people are safe in our community,” Reyes said. 

Metro Tech Basic Piece Officer Training 

At Metro Tech, Reyes learns how to handle real-world encounters in law enforcement. 

“Honestly, it’s been helping me a lot,” Reyes said. 

Metro Tech Basic Peace Officer Certification Coordinator Jeremy Gibbs helps students learn outside the classroom in Metro Tech’s new active training Simunitions Room. 

“To have effective training, we have to have facilities that promote that,” Gibbs said. “Officers can work on clearing corners -- to be able to work as a team.” 

Teachers evaluate every move with a walkway above the training facility. The ramp offers teachers a bird's-eye view of the room as students test their essential skills to save future lives. 

"Especially with everything that’s going on in the world today,” Gibbs said.  

A snapshot of gun violence nationwide and for Oklahoma 

According to the Gun Violence Archive, the shooting that took three lives at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday became the nation’s 487th mass shooting this year. Everystat.org shows Oklahoma has the 15th-highest rate of gun violence in the U.S. 

Oklahoma taxpayers foot the bill for gun violence 

Gun violence costs Oklahoma taxpayers $206 million and the state more than $10 billion each year, according to Everystat.org. That makes Oklahoma the 13th-highest societal cost of gun violence in the U.S. at $2,595 per resident each year. 

Metro Tech’s Public Safety Mission 

Metro Tech’s programs ensure students and current law enforcement professionals are prepared for any emergency response in the community. 

“This is a really important place to simulate what they’re going to encounter in real-world environments,” Gibbs said. 

Reyes said she believes her training will help her form relationships and build trust that can save lives.  

“Stopping a crime that shouldn’t be committed at all,” said Reyes, about the potential to prevent violent crime through community education. 

Gibbs said their program opens doors for successful careers and safer communities. 

“You just can’t get that in a classroom,” Gibbs said.