Though no crime had been committed, on Aug. 17, hundreds of law enforcement officers fromĀ across the country arrived at sunny Ohio Wesleyan. As part of the second annual Leadership inĀ Crisis conference, the officers discussed their work experiences in hopes of educating policeĀ forces around the country.
John DiFava, chief of police at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one of the visitingĀ officers, āserved as the incident commander of the institution during the search of the BostonĀ Marathon bombers who ultimately murdered MIT police officer Sean Collier,ā according to anĀ event pamphlet.
Michael Kehoe, āchief of police in Newtown, Connecticut,…was one of the first through theĀ doors at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,ā was also in attendance.
āEach officer discussed the events they experienced, how they had to respond and what theyĀ have learned from those incidents,ā said Public Safety officer Robert Wood.
According to Wood, āthe presenters got the people who attend the event thinking about how theyĀ would respond if they encountered a similar tragedy.ā
Wood organized the event and brought it to campus along with officer Tom Saccenti of FurmanĀ Universityās university police.
Saccenti said, āThis event was incredibly successful. We had a very large amount of peopleĀ attend, and the feedback we received showed that so many people got a lot out of theĀ conference.ā
Saccenti said he would consider holding the event again in a different state so they could gatherĀ together people that have yet to attend the conference.