Training Helps Tulsa Special Operations Team Prepare For Active Shooters

The Tulsa special operations team is training for a hostage situation.

They are a specialized group of 50 different kinds of officers within TPD on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ready to respond.

“In recent years, started adding Tulsa Fire Department as well as EMSA to our training scenarios, so everyone is on the same sheet of music,” explained TPD Captain Mike Eckert. “Everybody has an understanding of what their job and responsibility is, and from the law enforcement perspective 100 percent I can tell you that we are as prepared as we can be."

The team prepares regularly for active shooter situations like the one in Virginia, but Eckert says it's not just about their training.

"We train our officers and train with our officers for active shooter response because the response, or at least the initial response, is going to be a patrol response,” he stated.

From schools to offices, government buildings to now ball fields, everyone has to know what approach to take.

"Certainly, when you add the element of an outdoor setting as opposed to an interior setting, it makes that situation that much more difficult,” said Eckert.