Fort George G. Meade, Md. – Fort Meade welcomed more than 50 law enforcement professionals from more than 25 agencies across the local, state, and federal spectrum to what is hoped-to-be the inaugural Law Enforcement Symposium here Sept. 7.
Col. Michael A. Sapp, garrison commander, welcomed those in attendance at the Defense Media Activity here for working to strengthen and build relationships between jurisdictions that sometimes overlap to make it easier – and more effective – to coordinate and respond should a major threat occur on post, or outside the installation’s gates.
“The best part about the event was the multiple LE (law enforcement) agencies and departments getting to know each other, establishing points of contact for their agencies and departments to reach out to, and learning best practices regarding the active shooter threat, local infrastructure threats, and intelligence resources across the NCR (National Capital Region),” said Michael J. Stankovich, Fort Meade Criminal Investigation Division’s Special Agent-in-Charge.
The symposium - a combined effort between Fort Meade’s Directorate of Emergency Services and the Fort Meade CID office – appeared to meet the goal of building relationships between jurisdictions in our local community who deal with many of the same issues while also providing some professional development for all in attendance, said Stankovich.
Chief Jason Lando, currently Chief of Police for the Frederick Maryland Police Department, provided a presentation on the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting near Pittsburg, Pa. At the time of the shooting, Oct. 27, 2018, Lando was a police captain for the Pittsburg Police Department and one of the first responders to the incident.
The other active shooter presentation featured law enforcement personnel from the Anne Arundel County Police Department. That presentation focused closer to home here with lessons learned in the response to the Maryland Capitol Gazette mass shooting on June 28, 2018.
In addition to the two presentation on active shooters, other events included a working lunch where people from respective agencies presented information on their individual capabilities as first responders, a session on potential threats to critical infrastructure in the region and a session on how to minimize potential impacts to the community in the case of a threat.
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