Morris Sheriff Conducts Evacuation Training at the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown

Published on November 22, 2017

Simulates Real Emergency Event

Officers of the Morris County Sheriff's Office participated in an evacuation and active threat training drill today at the Morris County Courthouse during normal working hours.

(JPG, 837KB) Employees and members of the public evacuate the Courthouse during a drill on November

The courthouse, located two blocks off the Morristown green, was closed to the public from 11a.m. to 1 p.m. for the event. Court employees and members of the public were instructed by officers to leave the courthouse as if this was a real event.

Electronic signs were visible around the courthouse notifying the public of the drill and the Morris County Sheriff's Office posted a message on its FaceBook page about the event to help ensure that people full understood this was a drill.

After the successful evacuation, a large-scale threat-training drill was conducted that involved the entire Sheriff's agency. Across the street, the Morris County Administration and Records Building remained open during the shut down.

(JPG, 301KB) Undersheriff Mark S. Spitzer and Chief Edward K. Crooker watch the monitors during the active threat drill

This is the first time a drill of this caliber has been conducted during working hours at the Courthouse,'' said Sheriff James M. Gannon. The Morris County Courthouse is a critical infrastructure and Sheriff's Office is responsible for not only protecting the judicial staff, but state and county employees as well as the public entering the Courthouse to conduct daily business.

(JPG, 750KB) Detective Corporal Michael McMahon and K9 Chip search courthouse area during drill

I am very impressed by the jobs these officers did. We're going to see more of this training in the future, added Sheriff Gannon.

The drill went extremely well overall for the first time being conducted during normal operating hours. All participants successfully completed their tasks at hand reinforcing the level of training the Morris County Sheriff's Office will continue to provide, said training coordinator Sheriff's Sgt. Walter Rawa.