Changing the way officers are trained

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The frequency of mass shootings in the United States has changed the way law enforcement men and women work and train.

Thanks to a new grant, West Michigan police agency is better prepared for a situation like the one in Connecticut .

24 Hour News 8 has learned 85 agencies will receive what they call 'Active Shooter Training'; it's training they hope they never have to use, but state government now sees it as a priority.

"We keep seeing these type of instances over and over again, so the importance is that we have to be prepared as officers on the street," said Julie Yunker, a former sergeant turned teacher at Grand Valley State University.

Yunker trains the next generation of officers. She said the training her students will receive is much different than when she was training to be an officer because there is a new type of criminal: One that can not be negotiated with, which is very different from what they were use to.

"(It used to be) I got caught robbing a convenient store or bank and I have hostages now so I can get out safety. There was usually some kind of end goal that law enforcement could bargain or barter with and in these there doesn't seem to be that kind of goal or desire. T he goal or desire seems to be to have that ability to kill other people," Yunker said.

The new goal is why law enforcement is focusing on training and tools. They are using better guns and teaming up with different agencies and jurisdictions.
 
"We are seeing a city responding and a state allocation of assets and even federal agencies being first responders and seeing federal agents as first responders is amazing," said Yunker.

Yunker said after watching the coverage of the Connecticut shooting , she thinks officers did everything right.

"It's a quick response, even the quickest response doesn't guarantee no one gets hurt."

That's why training is best response to these shootings.

The new training for West Michigan law enforcement officers should start in the next few months.