[skibum]

Two years ago, my department made a feeble effort to get everyone "IC 200" trained (It's a part of the ICS - Incident Command System, pioneered by wildfire agencies but based on the military model of a command staff)... we spent 4 - 6 hours bitching (not me, of course, being a new guy I professionally kept my big mouth shut) and listening to a guy who didn't really understand it himself try to "teach" it to us. We were doing it to "get on with this Homeland Security stuff" as one Lieutenant explained it.

Having gone through the training a year earlier as the training officer for the water rescue team where I live, I wondered why it took two days of solid, knowledgeable instruction to seasoned, motivated rescuers, and only half a day to cops who don't know (or care to) the difference between ABCs and AEDs.

Now I know.

I'm sure that, if asked, someone on the staff here will say we have an Emergency Shooting Response Plan, and may even be able to come up with something that sounds reasonable (not doable... two different critters in LE), but if you ask one of the rank and file, you'll get a blank stare. That's a long-winded way to say that, yes, every department needs to have one, but don't.

Of course, I may be tarring all of LE with the same brush; one of my Sgts agrees with me that we are way behind when it comes to training, and says that other metro agencies do better. But, Jesus Christ, there are cops and staff here that will have to live the rest of their lives with what they did (or failed to do) at Columbine! The whole blame/ lawsuit/ risk/ career jeopardy avoidance keeps us from learning from our mistakes. I can only hope that others are smarter.