A post 9/11 program designed to prepare Alameda County first responders for terrorist attacks and mass shootings will undergo a significant overhaul.
On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a set of recommended changes to the Urban Shield first responder training exercise, which had been criticized for having a militarized approach.
Critics disliked everything from the program's name itself to the heavily armed SWAT team training it provided. The vote will lead to a name change, removal of the SWAT component and other modfications.
Urban Shield was launched in 2007 and is overseen by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.
Prior to the vote, officials heard hours of comments from county residents about Urban Shield.
“Change it to something that goes for disaster relief… not for some kind of phony terrorist attack that’s never going to happen,” said James McFadden.
Rebecca Knight, a technician at the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, said the training probably helped her survive the mass shooting in Las Vegas, in which a gunman killed 58 people and left 851 injured at an outdoor music festival.
“I never would have training to know where the exits were,” she said. “I never would have known to listen for the gunman to reload, and take that time to move from cover to cover.”
Another resident called on the police to learn how to collaborate and said the program manipulated the “tragedy and horror of 9/11 to scare people into believing that hyper-aggressive police training will save the day.”
But Hayward Police Captain Will Depledge spoke in favor of the focus on terrorism. “It would be irresponsible to not plan and prepare for when that day comes,” he said.
The county sheriff's office has also come out against the changes, saying they believe the program bolsters safety in the region.
Last year, the Board voted to end the training exercise in its current format, and formed a committee to recommend modifications to the training.