By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
These high school students are rescuing a pretend hostage.
“That really felt good, saving someone and knowing I’m changing someone’s life,” said 18-year-old Nasir Williams.
They’re being trained by the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team, or MOCERT. It’s all part of the county Sheriff’s Office Annual Youth Week.
“This isn’t just for people who want to be in law and public safety, but it will give them a better understanding and experience about what law enforcement does,” said Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden.
During the hostage rescue drill, the teen recruits are taught a tactical walk.
“It’s a tactical movement. If you’re moving from position to position, a regular walk doesn’t really accomplish the mission so you need to have more of a combat mindset or a more combat walk,” said Sgt. Joel Fischer.
The county SWAT team teaches the recruits weapon safety too. They’re handed airsoft guns before loading onto the armored vehicle to the mission.
“These are our pellet guns. They force small plastic projectile utilizing gas but they are not loaded for safety reasons. There are no pellets or live gas inside them today,” Fischer said.
A driver pulls around the county complex and the recruits enter the building in a stack formation. They’re taught verbal commands to shout to the hostage taker and hostage before removing them from the building.
The MOCERT team runs the drill through twice a month. The team’s comprised of police officers from various departments throughout the county. They’re on call 24/7. Aside from this drill the officers also run an active shooter training and other tactical scenarios.
How often are they typically called? “Luckily not as much. We like it not being called. No news is good news. We average roughly 10 calls a month,” Fischer said.
As recruits are running through the drill, others maneuver around cones on the county Sheriff’s Office bikes.
“The obstacle course is set up very similar to the course the police officers have to take that are assigned to bike duty. This is a scaled down version of that,” said Monmouth County Undersheriff Ted Freeman.
“To see them do it. It’s a lot easier them me trying to do it,” said 15-year-old student William Hutzley.
The Sheriff’s Office free, week-long program started in 1992 with just 16 students. It’s since grown to 130 high school kids from around the county. Some want to pursue careers in law enforcement.
Sixteen-year-old Jessica Marshall isn’t sure what she wants to do just yet.
“Discipline is a big part of this entire program. They teach you different things, and teach you different people skills and you can apply it to any career you want,” she said.
After a long week of training and working out, these recruits will celebrate at their graduation on Friday.