A drill to help communities be more safe

More than 50 Pasco and Hillsborough sheriff’s deputies swarmed the Meadow Pointe III community, searching for a missing child. Luckily, it was just a drill.

The exercise, the first of its kind in Tampa Bay, trained local law enforcement on how to respond to a report of a missing child. As deputies scoured the neighborhood, community managers worked with residents to participate by providing “clues” or causing distractions to mimic real-life chaos.

As another benefit, the training helped raise awareness of the issue. Interested communities can work with their local sheriff’s departments or property managers to organize similar training.

– Dan Richardson, Rizzetta & Company