Department of Public Safety traffic commander Capt. Pete Leon Guerrero said advanced SWAT training will be possible once the instructors from the Government Training Institute return to the CNMI next year.
“The instructors who had been providing very invaluable training for our officers in the past two weeks said they will be back to conduct the advanced SWAT training next year,” Leon Guerrero said.
He added that the instructors assured they will be here ahead of time to build a temporary training facility in Marpi.
This, Leon Guerrero said, is much better and beneficial to the island than the original plan of sending just a few police officers to the U.S. to take the advanced SWAT training.
“Bringing the instructors here to conduct the training is more practical and less expensive because more police officers can avail of the training,” Leon Guerrero said.
He added that nobody can train police officers on island to combat the threat of terrorism, rampage shooting and other emergencies which he hopes will not occur here.
“These emergencies are happening everywhere, and it’s only a matter of when it will strike us. The important thing is to have our police officers and first responders get ready and know what to do,” Leon Guerrero said.
He is thankful for the availability of grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security which funded local training.
The officers who will take the advanced SWAT training are the 28 police officers from the CNMI Department of Public Safety Tactical Response Enforcement Team and the Commonwealth Ports Authority Special Response Team who finished the first basic SWAT training yesterday.
Government Training Institute director of training and lead instructor Dennis O’Connor and his two fellow instructors John Pompi and Travis Peterson began conducting the seven-day basic SWAT training on Monday.
The police officers underwent actual training in basic special weapons and tactics, and learned techniques in entering a room, aiming and shooting while using Simunition rounds on the second floor of the abandoned Fiesta Mall in San Roque on Friday morning.
Police Sgt. Anthony Macaranas, who was one of the trainees, said although he had undergone similar training during his years in the military, he needed a “refresher.”
“Training is a never-ending experience because even if you have knowledge of anything and you don’t put it to constant use, it will be useless,” Macaranas told the Variety.
“For newcomers and for those officers who had experience in the military, this is a very important and useful training,” he said.
On Aug. 12, the instructors conducted an immediate action team training on terrorism-related course for 30 police officers.
