Lakeland Police Conduct Refresher Training in Homeland Security Operations

No, it's not the latest version of police uniforms being considered by Lakeland Police officers in the photo to the left here. And it is not an invasion of aliens, though people do sometimes look at us like we are from another universe.

Rather, these photos are from recent in-service training sessions where our officers donned protective suits that are to be worn in the event of some type of chemical or biological hazard requiring full-body protection.

The masks and suits are intended to be worn by officers on security perimeters of incidents related to homeland security threats. These threats may not come from terrorist activity. The most common use for the protective suits will be chemical spills or perhaps an incident involving a biological threat.

In any event, the training sessions gave our officers the opportunity to suit up and see what a challenge it would be to do their jobs in the hot Florida sun while completely encased in a protective suit.

Lakeland PD continues to offer specialized training in homeland security operations and required NIMS training (the National Incident Management System) as established by FEMA.

We hope the need for using these suits never comes our way. (They are hot, in case you were wondering. I know because I suited up myself one day.) But if the need arises, our officers are prepared and ready to respond.

      

- Asst Chief Bill LePere