The John V. & Jeri McMillan Memorial Arlington Police Department Annual Awards Ceremony was held on Wednesday, February 22 at the Arlington Convention Center. Arlington Baptist College received the Business Partnership Award.
"Arlington Baptist College was chosen as the ideal choice to partner with us in the Rescue Task Force. This multi-part training was developed, designed and implemented by the Arlington Police and Fire Departments. Many hours of planning, meeting and designing were required during both the planning and execution phases of the project. Phase Two required a facility large enough to rehearse for an active shooter scenario with multiple casualties and in multiple areas. Dr. D.L. Moody and Richard Koons welcomed the Arlington Police and Fire Departments with open arms in an effort that better prepared the City of Arlington to confront an active threat incident with multiple casualties.
Officials graciously dedicated two buildings for the training of fire and police personnel in the Rescue Task Force effort despite the fact that summer classes were still in session. The campus and these buildings provided the security and safety needed to train large numbers of personnel. Twenty-five training sessions were conducted with up to 20 officers attending and nearly as many firefiighters and a 10+ cadre on campus to facilitate the training. Police and Fire staff were always made to feel welcome and Phase Two of the training was a huge success because Arlington Baptist College bent over backwards to accommodate this large scale training effort.
When it came time to execute Phase Three, which is a test of the City's first responders by conducting a real time large scale scenario, once again Arlington Baptist College offered up their campus for this monumental test. But they went a step further and completely shut down their campus, cancelled classes and completely dedicated the campus to this scenario. Their level of cooperation did not end there-they also provided our training cadre with nearly 60 students and faculty to serve as actors to facilitate the realism of this exercise. This level of sacrifice speaks volumes about the partnership that was forged between Arlington Police Department and Arlington Baptist College. Because of their investment in our training, hundreds of public safety officers were trained to respond to an active threat. The Arlington Baptist College, Dr. D.L. Moody, and Richard Koons truly knows what it means to be part of this community and the Arlington Police Department is very pleased to present them with the Business Partnership Award."
