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7 Action News goes inside police training for active shooter drills

Posted at 6:35 PM, Aug 31, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-31 18:35:17-04

Law enforcement from several agencies in Oakland County are going through in depth training on how to handle emergencies, specifically active shooter situations.

Police from all over Oakland County gave 7 Action News a look at how they handle these cases through active shooter reenactments at Taft School in Ferndale.

The law enforcement personnel taking part in the exercise are part of Oakland County Tactical Response Coordinating Group. OACTAC involves 36 agencies from all over Oakland County.

They have come together to train for emergency large scale situations non stop over the summer.

“It’s important that all of the municipalities, law enforcement agencies in Oakland County work together to address this serious issue,” said Southfield Police Chief Eric Hawkins.  “With active shooters and other serious crimes that impact our communities.”

“So if there is an emergency situation of some type, people from different departments can get together without reinventing the wheel immediately respond to any situation that we are encountering,” said Det. Lt. William Wilson with the Ferndale Police Department.

“The huge benefit of the training is it gets everybody in Oakland County on the same page whether the incident happens in Farmington Hills, Southfield, Troy… anywhere in Oakland County,” said Farmington Hills Deputy Police Chief Matt Koehn.  “It doesn’t matter. Everybody in Oakland county is trained the same. If something like this would occur we would hopefully have a successful resolution.”

Now OACTAC is bringing in fire departments and EMS to train alongside law enforcement. OAKTAC was formed in 2009.

“I’ve been a part of it from the beginning,” said West Bloomfield Deputy Police Chief Curt Lawson. “Our police department jumped in with both feet we think it’s an unbelievable project.”