For the first time in the several years that they've conducted active-shooter drills, Brick Township Police take the action to a genuine soft-target spot.

Brick Township Police in Active Shooter Drill (Brick Township PD)
Brick Township Police in Active Shooter Drill (Brick Township PD)
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During the month of June, officers and dispatchers left the schools that have traditionally formed the backdrops and played out the threat-and-response scenario in a movie theater.

Security reinforcement, monitored doorways and even roaming patrols are common in schools. However, businesses that thrive on mass gatherings of people are not customarily equipped to that level.

The gunman in Aurora, Colorado, two years ago this month, chose a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" to open fire, killing 12 victims and injuring 70 more.

In Brick, police swarmed into the cinema with little to guide them except directions from dispatchers fielding simulated calls for help. Their job was to track down and "foil" the role-playing officers already on site.

At the request of the theater owners, police declined to identify where the drills occurred.

Brick Township Police in Active Shooter Drill (Brick Township PD)
Brick Township Police in Active Shooter Drill (Brick Township PD)
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Chief Nels Berquist says that the specialized training is "an effort to afford the most effective response and protection for the citizens of Brick Township and visitors to our town."

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