Old Tulsa Apartment Complex Serves As Temporary Special Ops Training Ground

Tulsa Police are breaking down doors at an old apartment complex near downtown to train for special situations.

The Sunset Plaza apartment complex will be demolished in about a month, but until then, the special operations team and the fire department have their run of the place.

Related Story: Tulsa Firefighters Take Advantage Of Abandoned Apartment Complex For Training

A small army of officers makes up the bulk of Tulsa's Special Operations Team. They've been called a couple of times to this apartment complex for real emergencies but now it's only for training.

"So coming out to a fresh space, where we've never been before or have limited access to, that's really a training benefit for us," said Captain Mike Eckert.

The complex is just north of Tulsa's inner dispersal loop and was closed in August with plans to be demolished in October. It's boarded up and partially gutted, making it ideal, for training according to the police.

"Rather than pretending like we just breached the door, here we can actually take a ram and break the door, it may do a little damage, but we can also close it back, put screws in it and act like it's locked again," said Eckert.

The Tulsa Fire Department is also training at the site, where they can set all the fires they want, and cut all the holes they need, with firefighters watching and learning in the process. The Special Operations Team uses scenarios like this to learn like how a common breaching tool might not be enough to break open a steel door.

Once they break in, the officers go into an unfamiliar space, with unknown hazards, and get as close to reality as they'll have outside of a real assignment.

"We'll use an entry team when we make the decision to go inside. Right now they're training on hostage rescue," said Eckert.

TPD will continue their training on-site for several weeks.