Plan for the Worst, Hope for the Best

In the wake of the January shooting incident at a New Hope City Council Meeting, the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) received numerous calls from city officials and staff about safety at public meetings. In response to these questions, LMC put together materials for city officials about working with local law enforcement to prevent and respond to targeted violence.

This webpage can be found here and shared with your officials. In developing this webpage, we also thought it made sense to create a related post on this blog with materials about targeted violence geared towards the law enforcement community. 

Here is a reminder of some of the more extensive resources on this topic:

• The United States Secret Service Threat Assessment Center maintains an extensive webpage with helpful materials. Their materials include the comprehensive Attacks on Federal Government 2001-2013: Threat Assessment Considerations 
  
  
• The National Center for State Courts has developed the Court Security Handbook: Ten Essential Elements for Court Security and Emergency Preparedness

•  Finally, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have created a Countering Violent Extremism and Active Shooter Portal with additional resources that can be accessed by law enforcement

Up next…A Report From a Regional Fire School

In the meantime, stay safe and be careful.



Rob

Sartell Save

Ernie Kociemba meets with the Sartell area responders who save his life.

The Sartell City Council took time out from a January meeting to honor a team of public safety responders who saved a man’s life. This “save” was a little different, as it involved both off-duty and on-duty responders from six different departments.

Ernie Kociemba was playing tennis with his brothers at the Fitness Evolution tennis bubble in Sartell on December 11 when he suddenly collapsed due to a heart attack. Off-duty Becker Police Officer Jonathon Batterberry and off-duty Wright County Deputy Dusty Miller were working out in another part of the health club, and each noticed that something was wrong when they saw people running. Batterberry wondered if it was his “policeman’s instincts.”

They responded to the tennis bubble and found Kociemba on the floor with no pulse and no respiration. Miller took over CPR from Kociemba’s brothers. Batterberry took over doing CPR while Miller set up the AED. The off-duty response continued to grow as Stearns County Deputy Zach Sorenson, Gold Cross Ambulance EMT Nancy Kalla, and Dan Williams from the St. Cloud Hospital trauma unit also assisted. A life-saving shock was administered to Kociemba just as Sartell police officers Shelby Lane and Kari Bonfield arrived to assist with oxygen. Kociemba responded to the shock and began to breathe on his own.

Sartell Police Chief Jim Hughes noted their “quick thinking, action, and calmness” when presenting each of them with the Life Saving Award. He also noted the contributions of the Gold Cross Ambulance crew and the staff at St. Cloud Hospital. Ernie Kociemba was at the ceremony, and the news reports said Mr. Kociemba was smiling as he said, “You see this big smile. It’s because of them.”

What happened that night in Sartell exemplifies so many attributes of Minnesota’s public safety community. Think of what came together that night: teamwork, common training and protocols, and a commitment to serving their communities and to helping people. That should make all of us smile. Good job, all!

Up next…Hot Topics

Stay safe,

Rob

The Spring Workshops

Mark your calendars for LMCIT’s 2015 Safety & Loss Control Workshops. The brochures just mailed, and registration is now open. (This is a sure sign of spring!)

 Here is the schedule:

 Mahnomen - March 25
 Alexandria - March 26
 Morton - April 1
 North Mankato - April 2
 St. Cloud - April 7
 Rochester - April 14
 Brooklyn Park - April 16
 St. Paul - April 21
 Cohasset - April 23

Once again this year, the police track will be in the morning. Here’s the lineup of courses:

-Difficult Customers—Avoiding Complaints, Challenges, and Claims with me

-Case Law Boot Camp, It’s All About the Basics with Dan Kurtz from our legal team

-Work Comp 101 with LMC HR staff

Lunch is included, and attendees are welcome to attend the afternoon session. I suspect many police administrators will want to attend the afternoon Administrative Session on recent changes to human resources law and data security. As in the past, we will have staff on-site from all of the LMCIT departments, and we look forward to visiting with you and hearing your thoughts.

We are also seeking POST continuing education credits for the entire day of training.

For more information and to register, visit www.lmc.org/LCW15RB

Up next…The Off-Duty Actions That Saved a Life

Stay safe,

Rob