TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — One of the officers in an active shooter training in White Settlement is Detective Laura Gonzalez. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, she says police work is her dream job.
"Something that I have known since I was young," said Gonzalez.
Right now, she's training with multiple police departments. She's familiar with some of the officers, but there are some officers she is working with for the first time.
When the active shooter training is over, the officers will have the shared techniques to help keep each other safe in school emergencies, public gatherings, malls, office buildings and other places.
"Working with different agencies, it's important to communicate," Gonzalez said. "We get help from all different agencies when we respond to something like this."
The multi-agency training will put them on the same page during active shooter situations. The training comes just before back-to-school time and after the Uvalde school shooting -- where police have come under scrutiny for their delayed response.
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Some of the law enforcement agencies that have officers participating in the training include Fort Worth Police Department, and officers from other cities, like Hazel, Lake Worth, Saginaw and more.
White Settlement Police Chief Chris Cook is hosting the training. He stresses there is no waiting when lives are at risk.
"Whether you are one officer, two officers who show up... There is no more waiting for SWAT or waiting for additional resources. And that's what they are teaching these officers this week," said Cook.
The teaching comes from experts from Naval Criminal Investigative Services.
Special Agent Jeremy Hauck believes the officers' biggest take-away will be the confidence to act quickly, together. This is the same training shared across the U.S. with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
"In your mind, you will be comfortable knowing what to do. It will cut extreme amounts of time off your response," said Hauck.
The training from Hauck and his team includes classroom instruction and best practices for breaching a classroom or office that has been locked with potential victims on the other side. The training spans over a couple of days, which will give police departments the opportunity to schedule additional officers.
Cook has scheduled some of his ranking officers to cover the streets and respond to calls in White Settlement to give his patrol officers, detectives and investigative team the chance to participate.