Always at the ready

It is a reflection of the times we live in — and a sad one at that — that law enforcement personnel have to hold training exercises in order to prepare for and know how to react to the unthinkable.

The news of the recent past, however, has shown us that no community is immune to the potential for violent incidents beyond anything we can imagine.

That’s why some area police departments maintain SWAT teams; it’s why our local police officers strap on a bulletproof vest before they go out on patrol.

And it’s why police personnel go through the type of training that found a host of law enforcement officers at Temple Shaari Emeth in Manalapan on a recent morning.

The SWAT teams and police officers descended on the synagogue to fine-tune their tactical techniques in order to save the lives of hostages and fellow officers should the need for these services ever arise in our back yards.

Joining ranks and working in a multi-agency training scenario, officers from the Howell Tactical Unit, the Wall Township Emer-gency Response Team and the Manalapan Police Department spent most of April 2 at the temple rescuing a dozen hostages in a training exercise which simulated a terrorist hostage situation.

Howell police Lt. Jeff May-field helped to plan the scenario and echoed the thoughts of many on hand for the exercise when he said, "The goal of each of these specialized units is to be prepared for what they pray they will never have to respond to."

Manalapan police Sgt. Chris Marsala said everyone who participated gained something from the training session. He said it was good to see the capabilities of each team and to learn how all of the responding officers could work together.

We join with Mayfield in his hope — and the hope of all police officers and citizens — that the tactical services of these special forces will never be needed in our neighborhoods, but we remain impressed by and thankful for the professionalism shown by the men and women who stand ready to protect us no matter what they are called upon to do in the line of duty.