Harlingen officers train in active shooter drill

A Harlingen Police Department car patrols Crockett Elementary Wednesday, May 25, 2022, after school dismissal. (Miguel Roberts | The Brownsville Herald)

HARLINGEN — Area law enforcement agencies are learning from Uvalde officials’ communications breakdown that foiled their response to a gunman’s rampage that left 19 students and two teachers dead at a grade school.

On Thursday, officers with the Harlingen Police Department and school district joined area law enforcement agencies in the Cameron County Emergency Management department’s ongoing training sessions aimed at stopping active shooter incidents.

“It was a good training,” Police Chief Michael Kester said. “It really highlighted inter-agency coordination. We need to work on ways so we can work better together. The main thing was the collaboration and communication with other agencies. Anytime there’s an event similar to Uvalde, it takes working with a lot of agencies.”

The training session instructed about 40 officers in inter-agency communications, including teams from the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department and the Primera, Combes and Palm Valley police departments.

Following eerie script

At Dr. Rodriguez Elementary School in Primera, officials followed a scenario similar to the horrific plot that unfolded during the Uvalde massacre May 24.

“An unidentified individual with two large duffel bags is seen entering Rodriguez Elementary School, where classes are currently taking place,” the script read. “Soon after, loud ‘popping’ noises and screams are heard coming from a hallway. The suspect enters classrooms one by one and begins firing a rifle indiscriminately at anyone he sees …. The gunman leaves the first hallway and proceeds to walk towards the adjoining hallway.”

Active training

For about 30 minutes, officials instructed officers in active training, playing out the script as they entered hallways and classrooms in the grade school that is part of the Harlingen school district.

“We are participating in one of the most critical pieces in times of crisis — communication,” Superintendent Alicia Noyola told officers. “Our children are our community’s most valuable possessions. Through our unified efforts, and in times of crisis, you ensure we get our babies safely back to their families.”

At the school district, district Police Chief Danny Castillo’s emergency response plan is focused on the training sessions he described as “ongoing.”

“There are lessons to be learned in every scenario that takes place,” Castillo, a former Harlingen police chief and city commissioner, said. “Communications is one of the first areas that can fail. This exercise is extremely important to our emergency response plan. The school district can work hand-in-hand with first responders. These types of events help to really improve these partnerships. Exercises like this test our system.”

Inter-agency communications

After helping instruct officers in the active training drill, Juan Martinez, the county’s fire marshal who serves as operations sections chief for emergency management, worked to review the exercise.

“We sit down and talk about what processes worked and what possible issues we clean up or do better,” he said.

Through the session, the focus remained on improving inter-agency communications.

“If communication fails, everything else fails,” Martinez said.

On their daily beats, law enforcement agencies communicate through their individual radio frequencies, he said.

But during the drill, he said, officers trained in the use of the system known as the Regional Event Channel.

“It’s a common channel shared by all agencies to communicate on a platform,” he said.

Improving the system

Now, officials are working to improve their communications system.

“The drill today was a complete success in that we were able to identify issues to fix them to make it stronger,” Martinez said. “It’s extremely important we continue to work on these issues. We’re shooting for perfection. We need to get to a point where the processes are flawless. We want to make sure our entire region is ready to respond to any kind of active attack. It’s about saving the lives of children, staff and officers. We want to make sure those innocent lives are as safe as possible.”