U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, visited the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University in San Marcos on Aug. 3, less than a month after a bill he co-authored to provide funding for active-shooter response training was signed into law.

The success of the ALERRT program paved the way for the passage of the Protecting Our Lives through Initiating COPS Expansion (POLICE) Act, a bill authored by Sen. Cornyn and U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock. The bill allows local law enforcement and first responders to use Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) federal grant funding for active-shooter response training at ALERRT. The POLICE Act specifically targets integrated response training for local law

“That sort of funding (for integrated responses) wasn’t available before this legislation,” Cornyn said. “Unfortunately, even very recently with the shooting of police officers in Dallas, we’ve been reminded of the necessity for this kind of training.”

The federal government spends “a couple billion dollars a year” on support for state and local law enforcement, Cornyn said, but until the POLICE Act, COPS grants were not permitted to be used for integrated training.

With the POLICE Act and the additional funding it brings, first responders across Texas including fire departments and EMS, will have access to better training and a better ability to save lives, Cornyn said.

“We’ve already seen the impact active-shooter response training can have on preparing law enforcement for these rare but devastating situations,” said Gene Bourgeois, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Texas State. “We know (the POLICE Act) will increase access to more advanced trainings that will make Texas communities safer.”

ALERRT was established at Texas State in 2002 to provide research about and expert training in active-shooter response scenarios. They partnered with the FBI in 2013 and are now known as the national standard for active-shooter response training.

“In a time when people think politics are way too polarizing and we don’t get anything done, this is a small thing, but I think an important thing, that we’ve gotten done,” Cornyn said.