Homemade bombs are cheap and simple. They're easy to hide and they're lethal. Trains loaded with thousands of tons of cargo rumble through downtown Hickory daily. Tanker trucks haul toxic cargo on Interstate 40.
Train derailments, tanker-truck crashes and terror attacks were just some of the scenarios experts examined while teaching response tactics to 64 law enforcement officers and emergency personnel at Catawba Valley Community College this week.
The officers were taught the basic components of a bomb and some of the methods used by insurgents in Iraq and by Theodore Kaczynski, better known as the Unibomber.
They took turns studying model bombs built to demonstrate how actual bombs are made.
About half of the students came from local police departments and sheriffs' offices. The remainder came from eastern states from Massachusetts to South Carolina, said Program Manager Lynn Topp of the National Sheriff's Association.
The officers take courses in site assessment, hazardous materials used in weapons of mass destruction, incident management, crowd control and explosives and booby traps.
The goal of the four-day session is not to teach officers to dismantle bombs or neutralize chemical attacks. It's designed to give them an idea of things to expect and look for so they can manage a disaster and surrounding area in the first 15 to 30 minutes of an event, Topp said.
Thomas Donahue of the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office in Boston, traveled to Hickory for the training and said what impressed him was that the modules were being taught by experts.
"This is the biggest group of professionals I've worked with in my 18 years of law enforcement," he said. "The information they're teaching us could play into any event — I'll definitely be bringing what I've learned here back to the job. Without a doubt."
None of the officers in attendance had to pay for their training, lodging or food because the program was funded by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
"This is where our tax dollars are working — to train the folks who need training," Topp said.
The National Sheriff's Association developed the First Responder Program curriculum in cooperation with experts in a variety of fields and began teaching it in 2005. Since then, more than 675 people have received the training in 46 states, Topp said, adding that the waiting list to take the class is 300 names long.
The instructors came to Hickory with 27 plastic cargo boxes packed with everything from model bombs and crowd control devices to model cities. The tiny cities are arranged on panels that can be reconfigured to represent any urban setting so students can practice implementing what they've learned.
Topp said Catawba County Sheriff David Huffman invited the National Sheriff's Association to teach the First Responder Program at CVCC.
This was the first training of its kind to be held here.
"This type of training is typically utilized by larger training centers within individual police departments like in Chicago and Los Angeles, said Ken Phillips, CVCC's Law Enforcement training director.
One of the benefits of bringing a training session like this to CVCC is that it brings recognition to the school and connections are formed that will facilitate future training sessions, Phillips said.
He plans to hold a second session next year for local law enforcement agencies so they can focus on risks and strategies unique to this area.
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