Pima and Pinal County law enforcement agencies come together for training exercise

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - Several law enforcement agencies across southern Arizona are working on more ways to keep our community safe.

On Wednesday, July 26th, Pima and Pinal County public safety agencies joined for a training exercise.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety, Marana Police Department, Oro Valley Police Department, Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, Tucson Fire Department, Tucson Police Department, Tucson Water, United States Border Patrol, and Valley Emergency Communications Center, all participated in the training.

Morgan Hoaglin, the Deputy Statewide Interoperability Coordinator at AZDPS, tells 13 News that training is vital to successfully responding to an emergency.

“We are focused on communication heavily today,” Hoaglin said. “Specifically, interoperable communications where one agency needs to work with another agency to work and solve a major event.”

Raul Garcia with AZDPS said the agencies would also practice establishing protocols for certain situations.

“The quick answer is that is what the public expects of us. That is how we work best,” Garcia said. “We All need to work together, to help out our families, our communities, in times of need and critical incidents of large magnitude we are talking about lives and health being at stake so we have to be at our best for them.”

AZDPS adds the training the agencies are getting is effective for big community events like the Superbowl, which was hosted in Arizona in 2023.

Garcia said it was vital when law enforcement responded to the hazmat spill that happened on I-10 earlier this year.

“We are certainly here with these numerous agencies to go over protocol, to talk about gaps we saw in that incident and others.,” Garcia said. “Here today in exercises like this is where we want to bridge these gaps”

The agencies try to come together once a year to focus on ways to improve coordination with other agencies to mitigate critical incidents.

“Sometimes different communication equipment comes available, different channels become available,” Hoaglin said. “It’s always in our best interest as a time to practice those and know how and when to use those interoperable connections.”

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said having these multiple agencies come together is important to strengthen their skills and learn more ways to keep the community safe.

Be sure to subscribe to the 13 News YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@13newskold

Copyright 2023 13 News. All rights reserved.