Just last week a highly publicized memorial for the Lakewood Police Department took place in Washington State as a result of a fatal shooting in a local coffee shop where four police officers were ambushed days before the Thanksgiving holiday. A month later a Washington law enforcement officer was shot during a domestic disturbance call. And two days ago, an Alaska police officer was shot multiple times while sitting in his patrol car. These increasing acts of violence span from north to south, east to west -- no law enforcement officer is immune. Our thoughts and condolences go out to friends, family and the law enforcement communities touched by these heinous crimes.
We live and work in a changing world where incidents of crime, and the chance of attacks on uniformed police officers, are more likely than ever before. Despite the fact law enforcement fatalities are down from years prior (largely due to a reduction in traffic-related incidents), firearms-related killings have risen 23% since 2008. While the overall trend may be encouraging, as law enforcement officers we must remain as diligent, prepared and responsive as ever for the possibility of brutal, ambush-style attacks.
In the coming year, let us recognize our fellow officers who have been wounded or killed in the line of duty, let us never forget the first responders who lost their lives on September 11 and may we continue to better prepare ourselves for incidents of violence and terror in a post 9/11 world.
Best Wishes to You and Yours in 2010,
Chadd Harbaugh, GTI President "Success is NOT by Chance"
SWAT Training in Sunnyside, Washington
"The decisions law enforcement officers make can effect peoples life. It's important that they train and they train hard, and that's exactly what they're doing today." -- Travis Peterson, Sr. GTI Instructor
Recently Travis lead Sunnyside PD through a custom SWAT course in Washington. Travis comes to GTI with a combined 12 years of Military and Law Enforcement experience. He has completed assignments with Third Battalion Third Marine Division, First Battalion Third Marine Division, and Chief Instructor of Third Marine Division Regimental Schools prior to joining a local Sheriff's Office in the Southeast.
The Government Training Institute Inc is a private law enforcement training, police training, and military training facility and mobile team. The Government Training Institute offers agencies and units a full training facility featuring mat rooms, ten thousand square feet of moveable walls for close quarters combat, computer simulators, a low light training area, two fully equipped classrooms, an arsenal of training weapons, three live fire facilities, an obstacle course, a use of force laboratory and secure weapon storage designed to meeting the training needs of military and law enforcement personnel.
The Department of Homeland Security has approved the following curriculums:
The Government Training Institute (GTI) was founded in 2003 to address needs of state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the United States with research based training. GTI's multiple courses contain a cooperative curriculum base and ongoing research from the staff with 400 years of operational military and law enforcement experience.
