Treasurer Suggests Emergency Training

Crawford County Treasurer Karen Sikes suggested October 29 that courthouse officials and employees undergo various emergency training procedures.

Sikes said that since taking office in January, there have been two lockdowns at the courthouse.

“There was someone running and a deputy chasing them and we have no training on what do,” Sikes told commissioners. 

Sikes relayed information from a training session with other county treasurers that the only training people had during the massacre at Columbine High School in April 1999 was “to get down on the floor.”

Earlier this year, the courthouse was locked down with students from various Crawford County schools present. 

Sikes said that students are likely used to lockdowns, but there still needs to be training for everyone else at the courthouse.

“The deputies can do something,” she said. “It’s not a matter of if, but when.”

Health department administrator Honor Evans suggested keeping the training local. She said the Missouri State Highway Patrol offers training and complete an assessment of the building’s safety.

“The will sit down and make a plan with you,” she said.