Monterey, Calif., Police Train for Active Shooter Response

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(TNS) — If you were in Marina Friday morning and noticed signs and military officials blocking off certain parts of Gigling Road and Sixth Army Avenue, don’t worry — it was just a drill. Local emergency agencies participated in a training exercise to test their response to an active shooter situation.

The Presidio of Monterey Police Department and Presidio of Monterey Fire Department participated in the exercise at the former Fort Ord Community Exchange in Marina. At around 8:45 a.m., the police department received a dispatch call that there was an active shooter situation in the building. The department responded quickly and began clearing the building and looking for the perpetrators — the exercise lasted around 40 minutes.

“It’s really important to be ready for any emergency response. We picked active shooter because right now it’s at the top of the list for the highest threat we perceive that’s occurring,” said Joseph Alfonso, Garrison safety manager for the Presidio of Monterey.

All of the officers’ weapons were replaced with dummy weapons, plastic blue and orange guns that reduce risk of injury during training. As they entered the building, officers swiftly cleared each room, calmly addressing each other each time they entered and exited a room, shouting “clear” as soon as they were sure there was nothing to address in each room.

“The purpose of these exercises is to utilize and practice our communication plans … with our emergency response partners and (to) strengthen our emergency response protocols,” said Paul Lerma, Presidio of Monterey chief of police. “That was definitely accomplished.”

The Presidio police department conducts at least two full-scale exercises per year, with a “mini-exercise” done every quarter, according to Lerma. The officers who are on duty during the time of the exercise are the ones who go through the training, with on-call officers ready to respond to regular community calls.

“Viewing what’s happening throughout the country with current events, it’s an event we know we have to acknowledge,” said Bob Martin Del Campo, Presidio of Monterey emergency manager. “Because the environment has changed this is an issue we have to deal with … it’s a chosen scenario because of everything we have experienced.”

The police force was shadowed by evaluators from the participating agencies, taking note of their response and ensuring every safety protocol was followed. Down the road in the Emergency Operations Center, more officials followed along as everything took place and further evaluated the response and communicated with the emergency responders.

“We always use the rule of thumb ‘crawl, walk and run,’” said Alfonso. “Based on our exercise history, we’re in our ‘walk’ phase right now so our skill sets are building up, our tactical techniques and procedures are getting better. The big deal right now is the coordination between our Emergency Operation Center and the incident command here.”

In the operations center, law enforcement, administrative officials and information technology workers manage the communication channels between the boots on the ground and the Presidio. They also give briefings on what’s happening and what support is needed to Garrison Commander Col. Daniel Antino and Deputy to the Garrison Commander Stephen Bickel.

The Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs office was also in the center, practicing how they would gather and disseminate information to the public in the event of a real-life emergency situation.

“Everyone who has a piece of making the base run leaves their normal work operations and comes to the Emergency Operations Center and plans how to get back to some sort of normalcy after the event,” Martin Del Campo.

Lerma said the officers physically and mentally prepare themselves for the high-pressure training through getting adequate sleep, maintaining exercise routines and a proper diet. After the training, the department conducts a thorough internal assessment of the physical and mental state of the participating officers, according to Lerma.

Once the fire department arrived at the scene, the building had already been cleared and they were escorted by two officers through the building to assess any dummy casualties and treat any injuries.

“I think it went well,” said Alfonso. “Obviously there’s going to be some after-action comments and there’s always room for improvement.”

“The combination of all of those folks trying to meet a common goal,” is the biggest challenge of the exercise, said Martin Del Campo. The Presidio coordinated with Marina, Seaside, Carmel, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Naval Support Activity School and more to carry out the training exercise.

Later this month, the agencies will take part in an after-action review, where they will discuss how the exercise went, address any errors made and provide recommendations for the next training event.