Special operations team trains in church

Date Posted: March 13, 2009

KENDALLVILLE – It could happen anywhere — even in a church.

The Noble County Special Operations Group (NCSOG), Noble County’s emergency response police unit, held special training Thursday morning inside Grace Christian Church in Kendallville. Officers from the Kendallville Police Department and Noble County Sheriff’s Department participated in the training, which included active shooter and hostage scenarios.

The team has trained in schools and factories before, but the church setting was a first.

“We’ve not done that before,” said team commander Doug Harp, the chief deputy of the sheriff’s department.

Harp said the training at the church had been scheduled before Sunday’s fatal shooting of a pastor during services at a church in Maryville, Ill.

Grace Christian pastor Chris Mosley welcomed the opportunity to open his church and basement meeting rooms to the team.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Mosley said. “You never think it’s going to happen in your community until it happens in your community.”

A key factor in special operations training is learning to deal with the unexpected, which makes training in new facilities critical.

“You don’t have a clue where things are,” Harp said. “You’re going into the situation blind.”

According to Harp, the layouts of the buildings may differ dramatically, but the goal in active-shooter scenarios remains the same.

“You’ve got to neutralize the threat,” Harp said. “It’s the No. 1 objective. Paramount is you’ve got to neutralize the violence.”

After each scenario, the group gathered and went over what happened, step by step. How the team moved. Who took a shot and why.

“That’s when you really learn — after you get done,” Harp said.

The Noble County Special Operations Group was formed in 2003 and held its first operation in 2004. The team has made great progress since then, according to Harp, but every scenario is different.

“We’ve come a long way,” Harp said. “We still have a lot to learn. There’s always things that don’t go according to plan.”

One sign of progress is team diversity. Each scenario calls for team members to take on different tactical responsibilities, and officers have learned to switch from role to role.

“Everybody has a pretty good understanding of everyone’s abilities and everyone’s specialties,” Harp said.