What is ALICE™?
The ALICE™ technique augments previously taught strategies and builds off of statistical and situational analysis of past shooting events. This analysis taught us that we should move away from the “Lockdown” or “Run-Hide-Fight” strategies, which had been the traditional way of responding to shooting emergencies.
ALICE™ was created as a reaction to lockdown and stay in place strategies to give more empowerment to innocent bystanders caught in an emergency response situation.
ALICE™ stands for: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate.
ALICE™ is approved by the federal government as a way to educate students and school employees for potential active shooter situations. Statistically, the ALICE™ technique gives students, faculty, and staff more options for survival than other responses, which is why almost 19 million individuals across the country have received the training.
While it may seem like the acronym ALICE™ is a series of steps to perform, it’s really just an easy way for you to remember the five individual options you can decide to use in order to stay safe.
Your decision of which option to use should be based on the situation and you can vary your options as the situation unfolds. Sometimes it may make sense to run away or to lockdown. Sometimes you may have no choice but to fight back. As you continually reassess your strategy, implementing the ALICE™ principles will help you assess which strategy should be employed.
Remember, the ALICE™ acronym is not a series of sequential steps. Each letter stands for one of the several options you can utilize during an emergency.