SWAT & local school train for crisis
I'm not sure how I feel about this... part of me wants to say, ok, that makes sense. And another part of me wants to go --- WTF?!
What other trainings could be simulated? Preparation is key... but do we start with the rare and statistically unlikely possibility of a renegade shooter(s) or do we start with what we already know has happened and is happening in this and surrounding communities... ie. racial tensions that result in large-scale disturbances, interpersonal conflicts that escalate into physical violence between peers, harassment and bullying that has affected nearly 70% of SB high school students (according to an Inland Congregations United for Change student survey)? A Dept. of Peace as called for in House Resolution 808 currently proposed in Congress right now, would assist communities to go beyond the policing part of crisis prepareness, however vital and necessary, and into considering and addressing the root causes of violence. So that while trained, a police officer or department may never have to be faced with "eliminat[ing] the threat" as Sgt. Mike Blay says. The "threat" being a disturbed student or youth - a person. How do we eliminate the threat of the crisis in the first place? Isn't that a question that addresses the safety concerns of students, teachers, parents and communities? And where is the training for that?
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SWAT, school train for crisis
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/11/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_6345528
Video: School Shooter Training
VICTORVILLE - Two shotgun blasts broke the silence of a hot afternoon, sending a sea of screaming students scampering through the hallways of Victor Valley High School.
A boy in a white T-shirt waving his arms in the air rounded a corner and made a quick dash to the right to avoid a collision with two SWAT members.
"He's over here!" yelled a girl, frantically pointing toward a masked gunman wearing a gray jumpsuit and firing a rifle into a crowd of students.
If this chaos had been real, two would have died and several others would have been injured in just a little more than six minutes. But it was role-playing SWAT members in a training simulation - not actual gunmen on the campus Tuesday afternoon. And none of them had real weapons.
It was the third run-through of a training exercise designed to teach school resource officers, first-response sheriff's deputies and SWAT members how to handle a school shooting.
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The training, orchestrated by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, kicked off just after 3 p.m. and wrapped up around sunset.
In the simulation, 14 SWAT men in green fatigues gripped their MP5's tighter and split off into teams, speaking in low tones and motioning at students to move toward safety.
After one "shooter" was handcuffed, two more shots rang out and SWAT members peered around a corner just in time to squeeze a few rounds off at a shooter who stood in front of a Coke machine.
He didn't go down until a sole uniformed officer sprinted around the corner and pulled the trigger inches from his chest.
One gunman wiped the sweat from his brow and grinned.
"I spent my whole life trying to stay out of trouble, and now I got to play a crook," he said.
More than 180 people participated in the exercise, including school administrators, sheriff's Explorers, sheriff's deputies, school resource officers, Victorville firefighters and city public works employees.
"Just dealing with a situation of this magnitude, having been through the training, will put (law enforcement) at ease a little bit if this ever happens," said Cindy Beavers, sheriff's spokeswoman.
No shooters ever have stepped onto a school in San Bernardino County, but there have been 37 school shootings nationwide since 1996. Twenty-three of them at high schools.
Deputies used Glock simulation handguns that shot soap pellets. The gunmen used blanks. No real weapons were allowed on the grounds.
Sgt. Mike Blay encouraged his men to keep focused on the shooters rather than turn attention to the injured students, because one day it could be a life-or-death decision.
"The shooter is shooting other people," he warned. "The bottom line is to eliminate the threat."
What other trainings could be simulated? Preparation is key... but do we start with the rare and statistically unlikely possibility of a renegade shooter(s) or do we start with what we already know has happened and is happening in this and surrounding communities... ie. racial tensions that result in large-scale disturbances, interpersonal conflicts that escalate into physical violence between peers, harassment and bullying that has affected nearly 70% of SB high school students (according to an Inland Congregations United for Change student survey)? A Dept. of Peace as called for in House Resolution 808 currently proposed in Congress right now, would assist communities to go beyond the policing part of crisis prepareness, however vital and necessary, and into considering and addressing the root causes of violence. So that while trained, a police officer or department may never have to be faced with "eliminat[ing] the threat" as Sgt. Mike Blay says. The "threat" being a disturbed student or youth - a person. How do we eliminate the threat of the crisis in the first place? Isn't that a question that addresses the safety concerns of students, teachers, parents and communities? And where is the training for that?
__________________________________________
SWAT, school train for crisis
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/11/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_6345528
Video: School Shooter Training
VICTORVILLE - Two shotgun blasts broke the silence of a hot afternoon, sending a sea of screaming students scampering through the hallways of Victor Valley High School.
A boy in a white T-shirt waving his arms in the air rounded a corner and made a quick dash to the right to avoid a collision with two SWAT members.
"He's over here!" yelled a girl, frantically pointing toward a masked gunman wearing a gray jumpsuit and firing a rifle into a crowd of students.
If this chaos had been real, two would have died and several others would have been injured in just a little more than six minutes. But it was role-playing SWAT members in a training simulation - not actual gunmen on the campus Tuesday afternoon. And none of them had real weapons.
It was the third run-through of a training exercise designed to teach school resource officers, first-response sheriff's deputies and SWAT members how to handle a school shooting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The training, orchestrated by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, kicked off just after 3 p.m. and wrapped up around sunset.
In the simulation, 14 SWAT men in green fatigues gripped their MP5's tighter and split off into teams, speaking in low tones and motioning at students to move toward safety.
After one "shooter" was handcuffed, two more shots rang out and SWAT members peered around a corner just in time to squeeze a few rounds off at a shooter who stood in front of a Coke machine.
He didn't go down until a sole uniformed officer sprinted around the corner and pulled the trigger inches from his chest.
One gunman wiped the sweat from his brow and grinned.
"I spent my whole life trying to stay out of trouble, and now I got to play a crook," he said.
More than 180 people participated in the exercise, including school administrators, sheriff's Explorers, sheriff's deputies, school resource officers, Victorville firefighters and city public works employees.
"Just dealing with a situation of this magnitude, having been through the training, will put (law enforcement) at ease a little bit if this ever happens," said Cindy Beavers, sheriff's spokeswoman.
No shooters ever have stepped onto a school in San Bernardino County, but there have been 37 school shootings nationwide since 1996. Twenty-three of them at high schools.
Deputies used Glock simulation handguns that shot soap pellets. The gunmen used blanks. No real weapons were allowed on the grounds.
Sgt. Mike Blay encouraged his men to keep focused on the shooters rather than turn attention to the injured students, because one day it could be a life-or-death decision.
"The shooter is shooting other people," he warned. "The bottom line is to eliminate the threat."
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