[StBernard] SWAT training is held in St. Bernard Courthouse

[Westley Annis]

SWAT training is held in St. Bernard Courthouse

Print NOLA Community By NOLA Community 
on February 10, 2014 at 7:02 AM, updated February 10, 2014 at 7:23 AM

No one wants to think about an emergency situation such as gunmen in a busy,
public building like the St. Bernard Parish Courthouse. But that is why the
Sheriff's SWAT team recently held tactical training there, to be prepared to
respond in a worst case scenario, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

"In today's environment, it's crucial to be prepared for anything,''
Pohlmann said, "and the best way to do that is to train, in this case walk
through the Courthouse and practice tactics for a response. Of course, you
hope you never have to deal with the kind of incidents that have happened in
some parts of the country but you have no choice except to be ready.''

The Courthouse, which reopened last year on West Bernard Highway, has been
re-designed, including expanding some offices and eliminating others and
adding prisoner holding cells downstairs.

It was necessary to re-train there, said Maj. Robert McNab, who heads the
SWAT team and is commander of the sheriff's Criminal Investigations Bureau.

Some of it involved tactical training in the large courtroom, the large
stairwells, in corridors and in the area of prisoner holding cells.

It was the same way with parish schools, many of which were entirely
re-built after Hurricane Katrina, Pohlmann said. SWAT team officers needed
to familiarize themselves with new school layouts, the sheriff said, and
took the opportunity to do so in recent months,

In today's environment, it's crucial to be prepared for anything, and the
best way to do that is to train. Sheriff James Pohlmann
"The summer break, with schools closed, was a good time to do this,'' he
said, in coordination with Superintendent of Schools Doris Voitier's office.

As well as the SWAT training, numerous St. Bernard deputies from all
divisions have attended active-shooter training exercises covering various
types of situations, the sheriff emphasized.

The information in this article and pictures were provided by the St.
Bernard Sheriff's Office Director of Public Information Steve Cannizaro.