WEST ORANGE —
Members of the Orange County Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team were in full gear at Lorena Oates Elementary on Tuesday, moving through numerous scenarios as part of monthly training exercises. The multi-jurisdictional SWAT unit, comprised of law enforcement officers from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the West Orange Police Department, and the Orange Police Department, utilized the opportunity to review tactics of protecting students.
Tracy Sorge, a Narcotics Sargent with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and SWAT member said, “Protecting students in the educational environment is one of many situations that we train for. This training was already planned, but we incorporated the recent events of Connecticut into our exercise today to critique our response to an active shooter situation.”
This is the fifth occasion in the past 18 months that the Orange County SWAT team has trained at a West Orange–Cove CISD facility. The Lorena Oates Elementary school was utilized for this training event because it no longer houses students.
“Two months ago, we had the U.S. Military Green Berets come in. We worked side by side with them at this facility using the same techniques that they use in Afghanistan and Iraq. We take things that we observe through them and incorporate them into the civilian side of law enforcement to better serve our community,” Sorge said.
Clint Hodgkinson, Chief Deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, said the SWAT training also includes members of patrol units and first responders.
West Orange–Cove CISD Superintendent James Colbert said, “We have been refining our emergency operation plan since April of 2012. However, we have been working with our local SWAT team for even longer. The training that we have been able to participate in has assisted us in developing an emergency operation plan that helps us to respond to situations that many would consider unthinkable.”
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Related Photos
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Orange County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Sargent Tracy Sorge plays the role of an intruder during SWAT training Tuesday at Lorena Oates Elementary. During the training there were a variety of scenarios where the dog handler and police dog work as a team to apprehend suspects. Courtesy photo
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Orange County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Clint Hodgkinson, West Orange–Cove CISD Superintendent James Colbert, and WO-C CISD Director of Special Education Dr. Brant Graham are pictured at the SWAT training. Dr. Graham has been leading the charge of revising and improving the WOCCISD Emergency Operation Plan. Courtesy photo
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Members of the Orange County SWAT team enter a wing of Lorena Oates Elementary and clear classrooms as part of SWAT training exercises on Tuesday. Courtesy photo
Discussion
Orange County SWAT trains at Lorena Oates Elementary
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