Each school year, every law enforcement officer and first responder has one main priority - to protect the students who attend and the individuals who work in each school within their jurisdiction. But without a proper plan in place for how to handle emergent situations and mitigate risk of injury, we are unable to effectively meet those expectations. All Responders Connected (A.R.C.) is a set of principles and trainings that enables and supports all law enforcement officers, first responders, dispatchers, and school staff members to effectively coordinate with one another during dangerous situations, including active shooters, to ensure all responders are on the same page, knowing what their roles are for the best possible outcome, while preparing for the worst-case scenario.
My name is Josh Barker and I’ve spent the last 5 years in law enforcement (joined 2020), 3.5 as a deputy sheriff. Prior to law enforcement, I was in the United States Army for 13, almost 14 years. The first three years I was a Mental Health Specialist where I helped people through counseling and teaching classes. After that, I became a Special Forces Green Beret. I spent three years overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan where I taught local nationals how to survive and fight against the threats they were facing, as well as helped build and supply the local villages and civilian populace with much needed supplies and infrastructure.
In 2024, I started teaching several classes in the local area middle schools where I saw a need for guidance with the increasing calls for law enforcement. Mental health issues were on the rise but so was internet scamming, bullying on social media sites, as well as alcohol and vaping among middle and high school kids. With these problems in the schools, another deputy and I set out to create a list of classes to hopefully help take the burden off the schools. Classes that were created and taught were Mental Health, Dangerous Situations, Internet Safety, Bullying and Cyberbullying, and Drugs, Alcohol, and Vaping.
While in the schools, I started asking the school staff some really hard questions and that’s when I had another realization… that NOBODY (Schools, Dispatch, and Law Enforcement included) was actually ready if faced with a REAL threat of an Active Shooter. With the threat increasing year after year, the common saying among everyone was not IF it was going to happen, but WHEN. Refusing to accept this way of thinking, I set out to create a program that would make schools safer, train Law Enforcement how to respond, and train dispatchers what to do in the event this would ever happen. To not only train in response to this type of call but to also be proactive and preventative within the schools.
ARC Training Solutions is a program that not only holds everyone accountable for training, but it also brings everyone together to be on the same page. Realizing that there is a wide disconnect between Law Enforcement, the schools, and dispatch, this program is designed to bring everyone to the same level of training and understanding of what to do in case of an Active Shooter, but also what trainings other entities are receiving. It takes away the confusion and instills principles. It takes away guessing and promotes confidence.
Help me build a safer future by creating more awareness and better prepared public spaces.