Police Use Drills to Sharpen Skills After Officer Shootings

Staying alert after an outbreak of violence against local police officers isn’t an option—it’s a matter of life and death.

Officers in rural parishes are teaming with the pros at ULM police to train in a 2-day advanced active shooter tactics class, to prepare them for the worst in any scenario.

“We train monthly to stay sharp. It’s called muscle memory and it’s developed from repetition. The more you do something, the more confident you are,” said Lt. Dan Chason, with ULM police. “We have to get everyone on the same sheet of music, so when we do get to respond to a tragic incident with someone who’s disturbed, we need to communicate to know what other agencies are doing.”

This weekend, Rayville police Sgt. Thomas Alexander was killed in the line of duty responding to a burglary call; days later, a 12-year veteran with the Ruston Police Department was shot several times by a shooter who’s still on the loose.

ULM police run these free training classes every month, to sharpen their skills for patrol officers in case of shootings, bombings, and any dangerous worst-case situation.

“We had a 2-day class. We’ve had probation and parole, Union Parish, Farmerville, Epps. ULM police,” said Lt. Chason. “As you can see from the group of people we have, it takes a large number of people to put this on. We volunteer to offer this. We share training so Union Parish has the opportunity to have the same training as large metro areas.”

The halls of Farmerville High School were filled with police officers, practicing their tactics against officers posing as bad guys. The point of the drill is to enact a disaster scene, and put the lessons they learn in the classroom into play.

“The point of this exercise is to teach all officers the same tactics for dealing with active shooter situations regardless of where they are,” said Deputy Bruce Spillers, with Union Parish.

ULM police say the same tactics they’re putting into practice in Farmerville were used to successfully lockdown West Ouachita High School and arrest a teenager for the murder of his own parents last week.