Local law enforcement talks preparedness for emergencies
Events like the mass shooting in Orlando over the weekend are a reminder to law enforcement how important it is to be prepared.
Both the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office and Pocatello Police said training, and training often, is the key to being ready for emergency situations like Orlando.
Capt. Roger Schei of Pocatello PD said officers try to prepare both physically and mentally for any situation.
“We train every month in a different topic,” Schei said. “Our SWAT team trains monthly. So we’re able to get a lot of training in. A lot of it is mental preparation too, so during the training time, they’re mentally preparing for things like that.”
Capt. Kevin Fonnesbeck of the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office said they do training every few weeks too.
“The closest thing we deal with in our training is probably our active shooting scenarios,” Fonnesbeck said. “And whether it’s in a school or whether it’s in a bar, we do a lot of training on that very thing.”
Schei said proper equipment also makes a big difference in efficiency. Some newer equipment at Pocatello PD is helping make efficiency smoother.
The department uses rifle-rated body armor. Normally body armor weighs about 20 pounds, but the new ones only weigh seven. That makes the vests easily deployable in situations like Orlando. The lighter-weight vests also helps with stamina. The lighter the gear, the less exhausting for the officers.
Another key piece of equipment Pocatello PD has are medical kits. They go in the squad cars. Officers are trained in basic medical response to be able to help those injured, if needed.
Fonnesbeck said one tool the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office has is a BearCat. A BearCat is a wheeled armed personnel carrier. They can be used to drive through walls or in barricaded subject situations. One was used in the Orlando crisis.
Both Fonnesbeck and Schei said the most important tool they have at their disposal is still the community.
“They’re our eyes and ears,” Fonnesbeck said. “I can have about 1,000 patrol men out there but they’ll only see what’s going on in the area they’re in. The community knows what’s going on. They see more than we do and so we rely on them to help keep us informed.”
Both encourage people to call police if they see something suspicious. They agree it’s always good to have law enforcement check it out if something doesn’t seem right. They said better safe than sorry.
“Anytime they see something suspicious, give us a call,” Schei said. “If it looks out of place and they think it’s out of place, it’s probably out of place.”
Below is a contact list for all local law enforcement dispatch numbers:
Bannock County Sheriff’s Office: 208-236-7111
Pocatello Police Department: 208-234-6100
Chubbuck Police Department: 208-237-7172
Idaho State Police, District 5: 208-236-6066
