<< Previous   of   Next >> Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Using plastic guns, law enforcement officials practice their approach into a hostage situation during their Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training excercise, Friday, July 18, 2008 at the former Granite Falls High School. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Outside of a training room, sgt. Scott Parker, of the Snohomish County Sherriff's office, demonstrates the use of a Simunition safety helmet, used to protect against marking cartridge bullets, which contain colored soap, during the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training excercise, Friday, July 18, 2008 at the former Granite Falls High School. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Using plastic guns, law enforcement officials practice their approach into a hostage situation during their Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training exercise, Friday, July 18, at the former Granite Falls High School. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) A sign warns people to keep out of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training excercise, Friday, July 18, 2008 at the former Granite Falls High School. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Sgt. Scott Parker, of the Snohomish County Sherriff's office, displays a Simunition marking cartridge bullet, which contains colored soap, during the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training excercise, Friday, July 18, 2008 at the former Granite Falls High School. Under his arm is a Simunition marking cartdridge, which fires the bullet. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Patrol officer Steve Brenneman, of the Everett Police Department, uses a plastic gun to demonstrate a forced entry into a building. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Sgt. Scott Parker, of the Snohomish County Sherriff's office, explains the use of sight lines in the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training excercise, Friday, July 18, 2008 at the former Granite Falls High School.

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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, Copy editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Racing to help the helpless

• Cops train for school shootings

By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor

Sgt. Scott Parker watched from a front lawn in Granite Falls as a team of cops ducked and dove, weapons drawn, closing rapidly in on the front door of a school building.

Within seconds, they reached it. Within a few more seconds, they were inside.

When responding to a school shooting, even a fake incident in an empty high school in mid-July, every second counts, Parker said.

There's truth to that. During the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, Seung-Hui Cho fired a shot every four seconds for more than 10 minutes. Thirty-two people died.

"If we cannot get into the structure immediately, it is a bad day," said Parker, an Everett police officer. "We might not be able to save everyone. We certainly cannot predict this type of incident.

"But we need to be prepared," he said.

Parker is a trainer for one of the most ambitious training programs law enforcement officers in Snohomish County have ever undergone.

Organized by Edmonds' Corp. Mike Bard, the active shooter response training started earlier this year and should train nearly 400 police officers countywide before it closes in August, Bard said.

The program's $55,000 worth of sophisticated training equipment was underwritten by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and a Homeland Security grant.

The sheriff's office is sending officers through the two-day sessions. So is Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Brier, Mill Creek, Edmonds, Everett among others.

A total of fifteen Snohomish County police agencies, including the two American Indian tribes, are training. Each of the agencies is shouldering employee costs while their officers train.

Even high school administrators have attended, including Mountlake Terrace High School's principal Greg Schwab.

The goal is obvious, Bard said. Since every second is precious, police need to be on the same page from moment one.

"You want to minimize whatever stands in your way of getting in as soon as possible," he said. "If everybody is on the same page when they drive up and step out, and they know what to do, that makes it a lot easier."

Each of the jurisdictions has had some training in the past. But the trainings have been separate and different.

That is less helpful, Bard said. "It's like a sports team that learns how to play the game all separately," he said. "Then you put them into a game and nobody else knows what anybody else is doing."

In Granite Falls, Bard and the trainers try and make the game as realistic as possible.

As police run through various scenarios -- hostages, shooters, improvised explosive devices, low-light, no-light -- trainers use an array of tactics to elevate heart rates.

Fire alarms are pulled. Flash bangs are blown. Horns are blared. Guns -- armed with soapy paintballs instead of live ammunition -- are fired.

"You try to make all training as real as possible," said Sgt. Bob Marshall, another trainer with the Everett police department. "And this is about as real as possible."

Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com