Police hold active shooter drill at City Place Doral
MIAMI - They say that practice makes perfect. Well, in this case, it may save a life.
Wednesday morning, Doral and Miami-Dade police officers, along with law enforcement first responder personnel from various agencies, held an active shooter drill at City Place Doral.
This training comes just about a week after a mass shooting at a Nashville school in which six people were killed, including three students.
Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez said these horrific tragedies are a constant reminder of why they always need to be prepared and ready.
He said there are several critical factors when it comes to these active school and mass casualty events. They include response time, addressing the stress levels of the officers, and communication.
"When a threat is presented, like this, in any setting, cops need to continuously move. It's a tough assignment. We are in an era where you cannot wait, as law enforcement officers, for a backup. You need to go now, every second could mean a life. So, we need to ensure that officers are getting there quickly, once they know the threat, they follow the sound of where the threat is coming from," said Lopez.
He added that it's important to conduct these types of drills in areas that officers aren't familiar with so they can see how they will react to a strange environment and assess critical response time in neutralizing a shooter.
"We train in all different formats so our officers know the exact areas where incidents may occur and they are familiar with them in the event they have to respond in an active shooter capacity," said Lopez.
The active shooter drill at City Place Doral involved two "gunmen." One was inside a comedy club, the other inside a movie theater.
Police and first responders swarmed the area as people portraying innocent bystanders screamed for help.
Lopez said after the drill, they will analyze the response.
"Now for the next couple of days, we will assess every single response mechanism that the officers utilize. That means combing over body cam footage and combing over surveillance," he said.
Lopez said they will also speak with those playing the innocent bystanders about what they felt went right and wrong.
He added that the department does this type of drill at least once a year and they do a separate drill at a school location during the summer months.