Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

and it won’t happen again,”
isn’t going to cut it. We MUST
get off the proverbial “X”
and move. We must get to a
place with realistic Incident
Command Training, with all
the moving parts and people,
that a response is instinctive
and immediate. Will you be
scared? Of course, you will.
Will you second guess your
decisions? Absolutely. But doing
nothing means people will
die. Hesitating means people
will die.
As a supervisor and the ISD’s
Chief of Police, you do not
have the luxury of indecision.
Especially in a crisis. You have
to act and act now. You must
have a steadfast determination
to mitigate loss, organize
response and follow through.
If you fail at this, you have
failed, period. It’s the kids that
lose, not you. And that is, totally
unacceptable.
Perhaps ALERRT or some
other entity, will actually create
an Incident Command College
or Academy Course. With
a minimum of forty hours of
intensive training and NOT in
a classroom. In a real school
or large community center.
An abandoned mall or shopping
center. A movie theatre
or a grocery. Perhaps all of
the above. Train like your life,
or the life of child or teacher,
depend on it. Cause one day it
just may.
Full Scale Exercises are a
tremendous drain on resources.
I will acknowledge that.
However, practical real-time
lessons cannot be taught in a
classroom. It is a “Real World
Emergency” that requires
“Real World Emergency
Training.” Even Naval Aviators
must get out of the simulator
at some point and land on an
Aircraft Carrier.
ISD and other Law Enforcement
Leaders, need to get
out of the simulator and start
landing on their aircraft carrier.
Otherwise, we are going
to continue to crash and burn
under duress and more lives
will needlessly be lost in the
midst of all the chaos.
P.S. I know someone out
there who has the resources
to put together such a class.
I’d be more than willing to
come learn, help, assist and
see that it succeeds without
hesitation. Texas should be
the leader on this because
that’s who we are.
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