The recent tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that claimed the lives of 19 children and 2 teachers and the highly-scrutinized police response has resulted in a renewed emphasis on response training by law enforcement.
During an appearance Monday on WOMT’s Be My Guest program, Manitowoc County Sheriff Dan Hartwig said, “Officers need to have the mindset and the training to deal with those situations, but also us having the equipment to handle it.”
He pointed to the shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, where the shooter barricaded himself inside.
Hartwig said that case resulted in law enforcement agencies around the country asking themselves how they would respond to a situation where they would need to breach a door.
“We’ve got breaching tools in all of our squad cars now,” Hartwig explained. “It’s ever-evolving and ever-changing. We have got to try to keep our training up on the cutting edge to deal with those kinds of situations and threats.”
Hartwig explained at his office they are required by statute and the law enforcement standards board to get a minimum of 24 hours of training per year.
That, he says, includes firearms qualification every year and bi-annually they’re required to do a 4-hour pursuit update.
You can click here to listen to the entire program, where he also spoke about an upcoming event known as Cops and Bobbers.
