Mock disaster illustrates Winslow’s team approach to problem solving

A student actor is led to safety during Mock Drill at Winslow Junior High School recently

The sounds of gunshot and young people screaming were all staged. All of the students knew that it was a mock drill. Even so, some of the young people were crying as they were led out of the school to safety. The staged hostage situation was designed as a training situation—not only for Winslow police officers, but also for school administrators, students, and emergency rescue units as well.

Steve Garnette, Winslow’s Chief of Police, commended the students and teachers for their response to the drill. “They were very attentive and cooperated with all of the orders given. They listened to their teachers, and took the drill very seriously.”

Garnette said that the experience was overall a positive experience for the schools—and for the department. “We’ve learned a lot about our equipment; we ran into some technical problems we didn’t anticipate and we’ll correct them immediately. Certain radios wouldn’t work in the building and we didn’t know that. There were some weapons that malfunctioned.”

From what was learned in the mock disaster, Garnette believes that if in the event a real situation would occur, the various entities will know what they have to do.

Garnette explained that the junior high was chosen for the mock disaster because historically those students represent the hardest age group to deal with. “If we could deal with that age group, we knew we could handle anything.”

It was easy to see the adrenaline pumping in the officers who responded to the call. The team, if nervous, was extremely focused. “This is the same response you would see in a real-life situation,” Garnette said.

“We’ve learned from the mistakes other schools have made. We’re changing our approach,” Garnette said. This tactical approach and command of the scene was demonstrated on Tuesday.

Traditionally law enforcement has responded to school hostage situations by coming out and setting up a perimeter, Garnette explained. An example would be Columbine, where, Garnette said, it was two hours before officers entered the building. In the mock exercise in Winslow, all classrooms were cleared and students extracted in 18 minutes.

“Our approach will be that the first four or five officers to arrive will enter and neutralize any threat. Then we will extract all of the students.”

Since the event, the Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Corrections, and Arizona Department of Transportation’s street crews have sat down together to debrief and discuss the good and the not-so-good things which were exposed through the drill. “We are working as a team to work out the problems we’ve identified. But we agree that this was a very positive exercise.”

This is a drill, which will be repeated over the next year, and training of the officers will continue through the summer. “We plan on going back to the drawing table, and will work in all five schools this summer, learning the layout and challenges each school presents.”

Garnette assures Winslow residents that its police department is one of the best-trained small departments in the state of Arizona. One of the reasons for this, he said, is the result of exercises like the mock disaster. And he plans on maintaining that rating.

“The better trained a police department is, the better they can perform.”

Garnette stressed his thanks to the School District for allowing the use of their facility, and to the students and administration. “They did an excellent job.”

Sgt. Roger Conatser, who played the gunman, summed up the feeling of many of the officers on the school grounds that day. “We’d rather make mistakes in a training drill than make them in a real life situation.”

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