Fort Pierce - Tuesday July 19, 2022: The Treasure Coast Public Safety Training Complex at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce is hosting 35 police officers from Colombia for a two-week training program that began Monday.
There is only one police force in Colombia, the Colombian National Police Force, with more than 160,000 officers. In a country that is mostly jungle, officers have received plenty of training in tactics suitable for rural areas. Now, the Colombian government wants members of its National Police Force to learn more urban policing techniques, and IRSC's complex was chosen to provide it because of its reputation for excellence in public service training.
This is the second group of Colombian National Police officers to be trained at IRSC. The first cohort of 25 completed the program in May.
"They’re learning swat tactics," said Raimundo Socorro, Dean of IRSC’s School of Public Service Education. He emphasized that its a new, less confrontational approach.
“The old style of doing SWAT warrants was enter the house with speed, surprise, simplicity, safety and superiority," said Socorro. "Today we use a more step by step approach where we come up and start calling out the residents of the house encircle the house and they stand outside getting everybody to come out one-by-one. That way they have less chances of somebody shooting because they’re afraid and it’s safer for the officers and for the people inside.”
The Colombian Government asked the U.S. State Department for this kind of training. IRSC put in a bid, and the Treasure Coast Public Safety Training Complex was chosen.
“The infrastructure here at the training complex is the most comprehensive training infrastructure that we have in public service anywhere in the state of Florida," said Socorro.
Among the many facilities at the Training Complex are an indoor firing range, an indoor tactical training center, and a mock village where officers can practice tactical SWAT exercises. "Our training is second to none," said Socorro, "statewide, and now internationally.”
The training is being conducted in Spanish, taught by Spanish speaking officers from Dade County. They were recruited by Socorro who is a 26-year veteran of the Miami Police Department where he retired as a Major before his appointment as Dean of the School of Public Service.
This is a first for IRSC, training members of a foreign police force like Colonel Jorge Jovanie Pinzon who, through a translator, said -"It’s important for us to get this knowledge because in our country we face many situations where these tactics in an urban environment are going to help our men deal better with those types of situations.”