Armed with hot coffee and practice rifles, the Porterville Police Department was out at the Porterville College parking lot Friday morning preparing themselves for a series of active shooter drills in which groups of officers would rush through the school chasing an “active” shooter.
Training Officer Jesus Gallardo and School Resource Officer Ivan Martinez explained the course began in the front parking lot where officers would arrive on scene, grab their practice rifle, exit their vehicle, and rush to PC’s Financial Aid Office. Officers would then pursue their target through dozens of student volunteers acting as innocent victims caught in the scene and into a classroom. Pushing through the classroom, officers would then take down their subject with non-lethal rounds at the rear entrance to PC’s Academic Center.
Roger Perez, Director of Communications and Community Relations for PC, explained the drills were important for both PPD and PC who both benefited from them in various ways.
“It’s really the focus on the local law enforcement and their interaction with the campus,” said Perez. “We’re using students to play roles in it. It really does provide valuable information for how they would deal with a situation like this on our campus. It’s really a lot about the relationship between us and law enforcement because it’s good to have them very familiar with our campus. Right before the pandemic we did this same type of thing, and we’re going to try and do it regularly.”
The goal of the drill is to increase the familiarity of the campus to local law enforcement which heightens the ability of PC staff to keep their students safe in case of an emergency.
“Safety is like a muscle, and the more you use it the better you are at having the proper skills that you need,” said Perez. “Using these skills, they have to be practiced so that in the very unlikely and horrible event that something goes wrong you don’t have to think about it comes as something you know to do. That’s why we run these drills.”
PPD wasn’t the only agency at PC getting some practice in. Personnel from the Porterville Fire Department, CAL FIRE, and Emergency Medical Services were taking the opportunity to get some of their own training done. The connection to local public safety is one Perez seemed proud of as he explained the importance for the college to have access to those resources.
“We very much value those relationships,” said Perez. “We try to work with them as much as humanly possible because it’s always good to have those relationships. If they’re familiar with us, we’re more protected. We’re helping them do their jobs as well by providing any information they need, any access to anything they need. We have a very tight connection with Porterville Police Department in specific, but also ambulance and fire.”
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