Aug 11, 2007
EMERGENCIES:
Ridgefield police prepare for the worst
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The Ridgefield Police are using a combat derivation of the popular paintball game that allows officers to conduct live-fire, realistic training without risking injury.
“Simunition” uses either police weapons adapted to fire a nonlethal, nonpenetrating round or a specially made weapon. Ridgefield officers use the specially made weapon. The department purchased the system in 2005.
“It allows us to conduct realistic firearms training,” Police Capt. Stephen Brown said. “It is a huge improvement over what we’ve been able to do in the last six years. Now, our training is much more realistic and scenario based.”
Simunition is especially valuable in training for what the military calls “close-quarters combat” or CQB. For police, it could mean rushing into a building to arrest drug dealers or attacking a terror cell. In CQB, police would operate almost shoulder to shoulder. Each officer has a specific target area on which he or she trains a weapon and lays down a base of fire.
Simunition allows officers to conduct close combat training without running the risk of an accidental shooting. CQB often requires officers or soldiers to change their direction of attack, creating the potential of one officer “sweeping” the body of another with his or her weapon. The result of a mistake like that is often a dead officer. Simunition, with its bright paint rounds, allows officers to learn from their mistakes without risking each other’s lives.
Constant planning
Although he could not discuss specific scenarios, Capt. Brown said the training regimen included responding to a localized terrorist attack. That training dovetails with the National Intelligence Estimate, which warned, “globalization trends and recent technological advances will continue to enable even small numbers of alienated people to find and connect with one another, justify and intensify their anger, and mobilize resources to attack.”
As dire as the warning sounds, it isn’t news to emergency planners in Ridgefield. Ever since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, police, fire and elected officials have put together contingency plans to deal with natural and man-made catastrophes. Capt. Brown said those plans often require the same initial reaction.
“The tanker crash is a perfect example,” Capt. Brown said. “Our immediate reaction was safety needs, rescue needs and then branch out into investigation.”
A gasoline tanker traveling south on Route 7 crashed and exploded July 12, 2005, killing the driver and momentarily stoking fears of a potential terrorist incident. The accident occurred only weeks after police in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania arrested 18 terror suspects that held truck driver and hazardous materials hauling licenses.
“The way we react is the same,” Capt. Brown said. “The difference comes when we go to investigate and in the tanker accident, state and federal agencies were right there with us the minute they heard about the incident. The idea is to err on the side of caution.”
Trickle down
Although the National Intelligence Estimate did not cite any specific terrorist threats, Capt. Brown said the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) and the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issue their own threat assessments.
“We get information every day,” Capt. Brown said. “DEMHS is especially good about getting information down to local law enforcement.”
Capt. Brown agreed with the National Intelligence Estimate when it said federal authorities should share more information, although he said much of the information he sees from the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security originates in Washington.
“I think you can always do better when it comes to information,” Capt. Brown said.
Recent fears of terrorists conducting “dry-runs” of attacks on airports or turning trucks into huge suicide bombs surfaced only after media reported on the concerns. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was among the vocal critics of the lack of information flowing from the federal Department of Homeland Security to local law enforcement. Capt. Brown said he could understand that frustration.
“We only get information bulletins as the information comes in,” he said. “That’s why we hope for the best and train for the worst.”
Cross-communications
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said one of the fears emergency planners in town share is the possibility of terrorists transporting a radiological, chemical or bacteriological weapon through town and accidentally unleashing it in Ridgefield. If that should happen, police, fire, highway and other personnel would all react both to the initial event and its aftermath. Fire Chief Heather Burford, the town’s emergency services director, said information about that kind of threat remains somewhat sketchy.
“Everything goes through the police department, which is fine,” she said. “If it’s appropriate, the police will share that information. I think we’ve seen a lot of improvements in the past two years in how much information we at the fire department now see.”
Still, there is room for improvement. Chief Burford said it isn’t the big terror threats that cause the most concern. “It’s the reports of people walking around in the watershed or watching the reservoirs,” she said. “We need to know more about those kinds of threats.”
Capt. Brown said when DEMHS issues a “threat bulletin,” it goes first to the detective bureau. The division commander then decides how and where to disseminate the information. However, due to the sensitive nature of the data, much of it “is only for law enforcement,” Capt. Brown said.
Shared knowledge
Although a relatively small force of 44 officers, Capt. Brown said Ridgefield police have a good depth of knowledge in dealing with potential “violent incidents.” Five members of the force graduated from the National Police Academy at Quantico, Va., the same academy that trains FBI agents. Those officers not only learned new policing techniques, but received intensive training in close-quarters combat and anti-terrorist operations.
“They returned here and immediately shared what they learned with the rest of the department,” said Capt. Brown. “They became instructors and now lead our training.”
Ridgefield also has several officers that train regularly with the Danbury SWAT teams. Once more, those officers pass that experience on to the rest of the department.
“We gear our training toward what we would have to deal with in the regular course of training but we also train for the worst scenarios,” Capt. Brown said. “It’s a credit to the chief and Police Commission who help along with the budget process and are flexible enough to send our officers to a variety of training programs. We all benefit from that experience.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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