 |
|
|
|
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Peter Nguyen plays 'bad guy' during the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team exercise on the West Valley College campus.
Emergency Response Team Stages 'Just In Case' Exercise
By Jason Baker
Onlookers who might have wondered what emergency had overtaken West Valley College on Aug. 21 can rest easy. The law enforcement vehicles filled with officers geared for combat that rolled through the quiet neighborhood Saturday morning were there by design.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (SERT) invaded the West Valley campus for exercises conducted to ensure that the community and the campus are prepared in the event of a major incident.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Members of the SERT team invade WVC during the Aug. 21 exercise to ensure preparedness for a major incident on the campus.
After the Columbine High School murders and other school shootings earlier this year, Laura Lorman, chief of police for the West Valley-Mission Community College District, contacted the sheriff's office and suggested they conduct training at West Valley.
The West Valley campus is spread over about 150 acres and could present a problem to officers unfamiliar with the campus during an emergency. Allowing officers to train on campus and providing them with detailed maps of the campus, Lorman said, helped familiarize law enforcement with the campus should an actual emergency occur.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Two SERT members move on to a new location for additional emergency training.
"We have a large amount of space to cover and this training helped give the officers a heads-up on how to respond," Lorman said. "Our buildings present some good challenges because of the number of rooms and doors. There are several places where a person might be in an emergency. In a crisis situation, every minute counts and we wanted to help the officers sharpen their response time."
Lorman said the training also allowed campus law enforcement to better understand their role in an actual emergency.
Peter Nguyen, a former WVC student now employed by the WVC Police Department, gets his handcuffs removed following the SERT exercise.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
"Most often, we will be the first unit on a scene," she said. "This training helped us learn to smooth the transition of responsibility and understand what we can do to deliver the proper information to responding officers."
SERT responds to situations that require the use of special tactics, including hostage or barricaded-gunman situations, high-risk warrant service or VIP protection. The team consists of two units, the tactical unit and the negotiations unit.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
SERT team leader Nick Perusina (left) describes the training to Lt. Cary Colla (right) of the sheriff's Westside Substation.
Officers spent more than 12 hours on the campus, drilling with scenarios assisted by college students and faculty posing as victims, hostages and suspects. Team members encountered as many scenarios as possible to be fully prepared in the event of an actual crisis on campus. After the training, officers spent several more hours reviewing the day's events, as well as cleaning their weapons and gear in case a live emergency occurred that evening.
"It requires special skills to enter a tactical situation," said Sgt. John Hirokawa, spokesman for the sheriff's office. "If there is an armed suspect in a building, for instance, we try and resolve that situation in a nonviolent manner. We need to think about how you enter a doorway or go down a hallway without getting yourself or someone else shot."
|
|
|
|
Saratoga, California Since 1955
