MIAMI (CBSMiami) – After the 2018 Valentine’s Day tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 college students useless, Miami-Dade Police started brainstorming stop mass casualty incidents from taking place.
The reply they got here up with was a specialised unit, extremely expert and created solely for precedence response police work.
READ MORE: Companies Ask For Rate Hikes In Virtual Hearings With Florida’s Office Of Insurance Regulation
It’s virtually like a film watching Miami-Dade’s precedence response workforce work collectively to clear a constructing.
Armed with rifles, batons, and different weapons for defense, they hardly make a sound. Their actions are completely choreographed however continuously altering primarily based on what they discover.
“It is very much like a dance,” says Priority Response Team Officer Kristopher Welch.
“Their bread and butter, their primary goal, is active shooter response,” says Manny Malgor, who oversees the Force Analysis & Training Development Unit.
“When there are dozens if not hundreds of variables in every situation, how do you train all of those variables effectively?” mentioned Carlos Gonzalez, Director of Miami Dade Public Safety Training Institute.
Officers push previous the restrict of what appears bodily doable. The women and men within the unit are hyper-trained to react straight away.
“The mentality is that if we ever have to, we’re ready,” mentioned Welch.
“Most police shootings happen in less than three seconds. Most police use of force happens in less than two,” mentioned Gonzalez.
READ MORE: Man’s Remains Found In Shallow Grave Behind Miami Gardens Home, Woman Arrested
“It’s not always a pretty job, but again I tell you, we show up,” mentioned Charlie Johnson, a Basic Training Commander for the Miami-Dade Police Department.
“Active shooter incidents are happening more today around the country. It’s important. Especially to protect our children,” mentioned Malgor.
There are eight districts all through the county. A precedence response workforce is assigned to every one.
“They go out to schools, hospitals, and business centers. They do walk-throughs so they’re familiar with the schools, with the layouts of schools, who’s in charge, who’s the point of contact,” defined Malgor.
The 60-plus women and men within the unit are tasked with dealing with essentially the most troublesome issues that come up.
“Let’s say a man with a gun at a Metrorail station, an armed subject, a burglary in progress,” he defined.
For these women and men, a few of them with Navy and different navy backgrounds, serving and defending others is a lifestyle.
“I don’t care who you are, everybody wants to lay down in their bed at night and know they’re safe,” mentioned Johnson.
A dedication, a burden, and a duty they’re proud to hold.
MORE NEWS: Surfside Condo Collapse: Former Miami-Dade Fire Chief Dave Downey Confident Everything Was Done By Rescuers To Save Lives
“When we respond to these incidents, we go with the thought in mind that we’re going to take care of business and that we’re going to make it home and the individuals involved will make it home as well,” mentioned Welch.