Los Alamos Police Sgt. Daniel Roberts, left, and Sgt. Chris Ross, right, received Community Asset Awards Saturday evening at Betty Ehart Senior Center. Also pictured is Maire O’Neill who nominated the two officers for the awards. Photo by Claire Swinhoe

COMMUNITY ASSET AWARDS NEWS

Two Los Alamos Police Department officers who have worked extensively on school safety were recognized by Champions of Youth Ambitions with Community Asset Awards at a gala Saturday evening at Betty Ehart Senior Center in Los Alamos.

Sgt. Daniel Roberts and Sgt. Chris Ross were nominated by Maire O’Neill. Below is the text of the nomination:

It is with great pride that I nominate Los Alamos Police Department Sgt. Chris Ross and Sgt. Daniel Roberts for a 2018 Community Asset Award.

Sgt. Ross and Sgt. Roberts have been actively involved in school safety for more than three years through the Los Alamos Police Department. They have attended extensive training and trained others within their Department on responding to active threat scenarios at Los Alamos Schools. This past summer Ross, Roberts and school resource officers participated in a threat assessment course, active shooter training and active shooter integrated response training.

In 2017, Ross and Roberts conducted 30 training sessions in the community and in 2018 an additional 25.

Training has been provided for both students and staff at Los Alamos Schools and UNM-LA as well as Questa and Espanola Schools. In most cases, the training has including scenarios in which participants experience realistic scenarios which enable them to learn how they would respond during a real threat.

“Our goal this year is to provide a safe environment for all students and staff members at each campus so that each student can thrive and take a giant leap forward in their academic career,” Sgt. Ross said earlier this year. “It just sickens me that these things are continually going on. It needs to stop – especially in the schools and we need to figure out some way to do it. Getting this information and knowledge out there is not going to prevent these incidents but hopefully it’s going to limit the carnage and that’s a huge step in the right direction”.

Sgt Roberts says the training has changed a little each year since the Columbine High School shooting and now gives people the opportunity to participate in realistic scenarios.

“While many entities provide active shooter training, few provide the scenario component used by LAPD which has been hailed by law enforcement officials from throughout the country for giving participants something to fall back on during an active shooter/threat event,” he says.

In addition to his duties with the school safety program, Sgt. Ross is LAPD’s community liaison. He is a familiar face to students and staff, spending the majority of his time at Los Alamos Schools. Sgt. Roberts is also the accreditation manager for LAPD and successful took the Department through the process for National Accreditation which it received early in 2018.

Both men are passionate about and dedicated to keeping our schools and community safe.

Los Alamos Police Department Sgt. Daniel Roberts, left, and Sgt. Chris Ross listen to their nomination being read Saturday evening at Betty Ehart Senior Center. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter