Photograph by Tsutomu Fujita
Deputies Steve Huld, Lance Long Aker and Mike Potter practice moving in a crime scene while aiming their handguns.
Regular officers receive SWAT-like training to better respond to threats
By Rebecca Ray
To better respond to crime on a large scale, such as the recent shooting that took place at a high school in Santee, all patrol deputies and sergeants from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office underwent "first responder" training in February and March.
In the two-day 20-hour training sessions, retired FBI agent Ben Tisa and retired Mountain View Police Department Lt. Dave Bliss, instructors from International Training Resources Inc., trained officers in basic SWAT techniques that were once only taught to officers who belonged to the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team--the Sheriff's Department's version of SWAT.
Officers learned how to clear areas, including buildings, in a high-speed manner, how to shoot while moving and how to shoot while standing shoulder-to-shoulder. They trained to shoot guns in close proximity to each other, so that they could get used to the loudness, Sgt. Nick Perusina of the sheriff's office said.
Law enforcement agencies around the nation are training officers, who don't belong to SWAT teams, in basic SWAT techniques, and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office is the first agency in the county to have 20-hour training, Perusina said.
In the past, officers who weren't part of the emergency response team were trained to attend to first aid victims, rather than contain individuals who were actively endangering other people--by threatening to shoot them, set off a bomb or harm them some other way.
Officers would set up a perimeter to contain the general area while waiting for the response team to arrive to contain the individual who posed a threat. But the new training takes officers out of the mindset of waiting for the response team, Perusina said. According to Perusina, the average response time for an entire SWAT team to arrive is 40 to 90 minutes.
"It was very beneficial, because it gave us the necessary training to take immediate action, and still have a chance of surviving the situation and be able to act effectively," Deputy Greg Taylor of the Westside Substation said. Taylor added that the training put everybody on the same page.
But the department isn't circumventing what the emergency response team is trying to do, Taylor said. Officers who aren't part of the response team are simply learning enough so that they can take appropriate action in Colombine-type situations.
Although the focus is on schools, some of the techniques can also be used in other public places, such as offices, shopping malls and urban areas, and can be used in normal building searches, Sgt. Ted Atlas of the Westside Substation said.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
