By Pamela Cruz with information and images by Gerardo Ortiz. Q360P.
The phone rings, an operator from the 9-1-1 emergency service receives a call. You are informed that there is an active shooting in a public space and that the suspect is at the scene. The authorities must mobilize and act with caution, since it is not yet known how many people could be in danger, the heart races and it is time to have a cold mind, one more day of work.
This is a situation that thousands of operators and police officers face almost every day in the US, and because of it, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office has carried out a special training that from this year will be annual, to have the preparation to face active shootings, as well as risk situations where lives are involved.
Thus, on March 28 and 29, agents from the Sheriff's Office met at the facilities of the Half Moon Bay IDES Society, located at 735 Main St., in Half Moon Bay, a small coastal city that just last March 23 January suffered a strong blow in his community, as a man shot at a couple of agricultural farms, leaving 7 dead as a result, to prepare more and better for acts like this.
Stories like that, and the ones that happen all the time across the country, led San Mateo County to better prepare.
“The training, which will now be annual for us, is due to events that have occurred across the country and in our county. This is our new normal, unfortunately. And in order for us to protect our communities, we know this training is paramount," said San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus.
In an interview with Peninsula 360 Press, the sheriff explained that, many times, her team has worked with the standards of what others do and that, due to a changing and complex world, it is necessary to respond in the best ways to save lives.
"For me, as a sheriff, I understand that our world is changing. It is becoming more and more complex. The types of crimes that are occurring are more complex and in order for us to truly respond in a way where we are saving lives or protecting our community, we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard and therefore we are evaluating all of our training at this point. », he stressed.
In this sense, the leader of this authority specified that they have made an evaluation of what is known, what has been learned and areas in which it can be improved.
“This is really an opportunity for us to see where we can improve and then give them that training. So we don't wait until something happens."
Corpus acknowledged that there was no adequate response to the recent shooting in Half Moon Bay, “I'm sure it was a huge blow to everyone. The sheriff's office may have learned something from that experience that he is bringing to this new training."
"We see it every day on the news, all these shootings that are taking place and the innocent lives that are being lost, it doesn't make sense. So we need to have more complexity in our training so that we can be more responsive."
But this type of training was not only useful for the Sheriff's Office, as other authorities that should be involved were invited to it, such as the Calfire CZU Fire Department, which serves the area; and school personnel belonging to the San Mateo County school districts.
“We have Calfire involved, school administrators involved because they are our partners and together we can better respond. We know what each of us has been trained to do, we have the same training, so it was very important for me to invite and include our stakeholders and really be able to get the word out,” explained Christina Corpus.
“Schools are part of our community, and we want our school officials to be aware of the training we're providing, and also be able to learn from it. There are certain aspects of training that is one way that our police will respond. But if it were to happen outside of the school, then our school officials will know what to expect from us and really understand the importance of collaborating, but also keep those lines of communication open."
unite to win
The recent incident at a private school in Nashville, Tennessee, where 6 people were killed after a shooting, three of them barely 9 years old, once again shook the country, especially the residents of San Mateo County, because with the experience in Half Moon Bay, the alarms turned on again.
That is why the Sheriff has sought that his entire team join the community, especially with students and teachers, providing them with tools and programs that help them not feel alone and that they can count on these authorities to solve certain problems. .
“We have officers who work inside the schools. But we are working to have a stronger relationship with the students and with the teachers, because it is important that, if we can help a young person or give them resources and programs, that is how we have a stronger relationship with them,” said Corpus.
Although California has some of the toughest laws in the country for the use and possession of firearms, the county has focused on controlling the trafficking of arms from other states, which is why it has teams that are on the lookout for unregistered weapons.
However, Corpus has emphasized that the problem goes further. "We need to see at the country level, because one of the main causes of death for children and young people is from a firearm."
To this they have added mental and psychological support by working with other agencies to deal with cases where someone is in crisis.
To do this, Corpus specified, work is already underway to have teams with clinical professionals who can help make the evaluations of people who are in moments of crisis, but with a view to having them work hand in hand with officials in a co-operation model. -response, and not always respond in a lethal way, where it is not required, "not to escalate to more and talk to people, but not just grab the firearm."
It should be noted that the scenarios are always different, so the officers have been prepared with programs based on cases that have occurred in the country, since not all the attackers use firearms, some have knives, razors, machetes, and it is that, "when you go to a place, you don't know what weapon the person is going to have."
For Orlando Baltazar Gutiérrez, officer of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, these trainings are important with schools, as they open communication channels to know what to do, if they have to face shootings in these schools.
By speaking Spanish, the officer has been able to reach out to Latino residents in the area, who have expressed their concerns, but are aware that working as a team is the best resource.
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