FORT CARSON, Colo. – Police agencies from around Colorado trained on mock city and house buildings this month as they learned the best ways to arrest dangerous fugitives.
The training is put on by the U.S. Marshals task force, which arrested 84,048 wanted fugitives last year.
“We capture the worst offenders imaginable,” David A. Weaver, U.S. Marshal for the District of Colorado, told Denver7. “It is critical that we train together for the safe execution of each warrant. Fugitive operations have a direct impact on the safety of the citizens of Colorado.”
Local and state police trained with federal agents to make sure each person can operate as a team when arresting a fugitive, even though they may come from different agencies.
At the training, 30 people in law enforcement trained in different situations. The training facility allows instructors to simulate babies crying, sirens, lights flashing. This gives participants the ability to plan how to handle innocent people being in the same house as a fugitive, for example.
“Real-life situations are used to challenge the participants’ mindsets in a potential fight to save their partners’ lives or their own,” Weaver said. The training was developed in response the killings of two deputy U.S. Marshals and seven task force officers in 2011.
The U.S. Marshals have task forces across the country that can mobilize in minutes when information comes in about where a fugitive might be hiding.
The training is paid for by the U.S. Marshals.
