The Moose Jaw Police Service's Tactical Response Team (TRT) was busy training around the city this week.
The eight-member team was running simulation exercises Thursday at the former Valley View Centre site south of the city.
"We train throughout the year. This particular week we have a week-long training session where we work on different movements, different tactics," explained Staff Sergeant Taylor Elder, who is one of two team leaders. "We just finished doing high-risk vehicle stops outside here. Now we're going to move indoors in Valley View Centre and work on deliberate searches, simulating a search warrant for something where we've gained entry. Now we have to clear the building and make sure everyone inside is safe."
He says the sprawling Valley View Centre site, which closed in 2019, is the ideal venue to conduct training. The facility was built in 1955 to house up to 1,500 individuals with intellectual disabilities.
"It's quite the maze. No two rooms are really the same. We can use this venue for really anything. There's big rooms, there's also small rooms like a residence area. It really gives us a variety of different options in the same area. We don't have to travel far and if we want to rep simulating a school, we have that here. If we want to rep simulating an apartment building we have everything on site here. It's very big and it gives us a lot of different options in the same area."
In an effort to remain realistic, officers trained with the same firearms that they use out on patrol, only with non-lethal ammunition (Simunition). The idea is to run officers through as many real-life scenarios as possible to give them experiences to draw from when they are called into action.
Elder noted that they are looking to add four new members to the Tactical Response Team, but due to budget constraints, the earliest that might happen would be in 2024.
Current members include Const. Brandon Braun, Const. Joshua MacNaughton, Const. Melanie Durrant, Staff Sergeant Chad Scheske, Const. Jacques Geyer, and Const. Regan Pawliw. The two team leaders are Const. Rod Zoerb and Staff Sergeant Taylor Elder.
Elder says Moose Jaw's TRT has a great working relationship with the Regina Police Service, adding they do some operational work with Regina SWAT members as well.
"[Constable] Rod Zoerb and I took the training back in 2020. We went to Regina and we took the three-week basic SWAT operator course. Then we came back to Moose Jaw and we kind of created our own policy and operating procedure to tailor it to what we can do here. About a year ago, we did a selection process and we picked six members, so now there's eight of us total and we put our members through training....There still will be times that we need to call in Regina or RCMP to help us out but definitely having us available, we can contain or do some moderate-lower risk entries if we need to."
Moose Jaw's TRT is limited in that it does not have an armoured vehicle or tools such as explosive breachers.
Elder stressed that it's important for officers to keep their skills sharp.
"They're perishable skills. If you don't stay sharp, you're going to lose it. Our main goal is to ensure our safety as well as the safety of the citizens of Moose Jaw. We want to make sure that if we're ever needed, we can do the job safely and make sure everyone around us is safe."