Police hone tactical, weapons skills

Training, exercises prepare officers to respond to any situation

By Adam Wallworth

Posted: August 4, 2009 at 7:33 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — Officers approaching Bud Walton Hall kept blue plastic Glock 17 muzzles trained on their human targets.

"Get on your knees," the officers yelled at the "suspects" - actually their instructors - during a two-day course on responding to an armed suspect at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The course was developed to train patrol officers,most likely to be first on the scene when an armed person is targeting people at random, said Cpl. Sid Ramirez of the University of Arkansas Police.

Most officers on the street aren't members of special weapons and tactics teams so they don't get extra training, Ramirez said. In the wake of mass shootings like the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, law enforcement agencies need to be prepared to respond to any scenario, he said.

Ramirez addressed 30 or so officers from police agencies around Northwest Arkansas who gathered in the old gutted dormitory. An oscillating fan feebly attempted to cool the training room, where rows of tables were arranged in front of a blank wall.

A projector flashed summaries of the individual lessons and images from tragedies intended to get officers thinking about potential threats.

Ramirez and other instructors told officers many times to stay in a "warrior mindset." Most people go through their lives oblivious to potential threats, but police officers can't afford to be that way, Ramirez said during a break.

An officer never knows what he'll be asked to do when he puts on his uniform. "It could be giving directions to the mall and it could be to stop a guy from committing mass murder," he said.

Hosted by the university's police department, the course was designed by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program, which is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Instructors presented photos and descriptions of the 2004 school massacre in Beslan, Russia, to illustrate a worst-case scenario officers could face. Chechen-led militants held more than 1,100 people at a middle school for three days. The standoff ended with 334 dead, including 186 children.

Ramirez also offered a tangible reminder - tennis racket bags stuffed with rifles and carbines, including one bag concealing an AK-47 rifle with a folding stock.

Ramirez told officers to make sure they know who is in command and to set up perimeters if ever faced with an armed suspect in a building. If someone walked into one of the area's small town schools with a gun, there'd be plenty of dads with rifles in the parking lot wanting to help, he assured them.

University police try to offer at least one such training session for outside agencies each year, said Lt. Matt Mills.

Officers from area agencies would respond to the university in the event of a shooting, Mills said, as they did in 2000 when professor John Locke was killed by a student, who then committed suicide.

Mills said university police remain in charge of such incidents unless a SWAT team is called in, which would be Fayetteville police.

Monday's lectures also covered how officers can respond if they are off duty, when an unarmed officer can only be a witness, Mills said.

"Rule No. 1 in a gun fight - have a gun," Mills said in his presentation.

After the classroom portion, officers armed with plastic mock-Glock pistols shuffled down stairs and conducted drills. Officers practiced weapon presentation and other tactics that will be combined in the dynamic portion of the course, taking place today.

During the dynamic phase, officers are armed with pistols chambered for practice rounds made of soap pellets. They have to secure the building by eliminating a threat posed by an armed suspect or suspects.

Officers will also be presented with hostage scenarios to help differentiate situations where they may have to use force and "active shooter" situations where they know they must use deadly force, Mills said.

Officers practice working together to end a threat, but Ramirez noted during his presentation that they may not always have time to wait for backup.

"You made that decision to wear that badge and that gun," he said. "You might have to make the decision to go in alone." To contact this reporter:

awallworth@arkansasonline.com

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7, 12 on 08/04/2009

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