Police in Fairfax County are incorporating the latest intelligence and counterterrorism tactics into training scenarios practiced by every member of the agency's 1,400-member police force.
SWAT team members conduct the training, modeled on a first-of-its-kind program in Los Angeles. On Friday, officers from the county's bike patrol trained alongside officers from Harrisonburg, the Coast Guard and U.S. Marshals Service.
Officers say even the simplest things can be helpful: Exposure to eardrum-rattling bangs of machine-gun fire is incorporated so officers won't be so startled if they ever confront such a weapon.
The officers are counseled to be more aggressive in confronting a threat when victims are in imminent danger, rather than sitting back and establishing a perimeter.
