Nov. 12, 2008
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's cross country and track and field teams recently gave their time to organizations that are invaluable to the community- the San Diego Police and Fire Departments. The Aztecs helped in a SWAT exercise at Mission Valley Mall on Tuesday, Nov. 4, by participating in role playing for the training.
"Thanks are not enough; they gave up their time," said SDPD officer Robert Rude of the Aztec student-athletes. "I have kids that age and I know how hard it is to get them up that early. It rained that day, but when I showed up at 5:30 a.m., there were already students in the parking lot. My whole-hearted sincere thanks go out to them for coming out and assisting us."
The SDPD and SDFD engage in an array of training exercises throughout the year to help prepare for potential crises that may occur. Their most recent training, a SWAT exercise, occurred at the Mission Valley Mall at 6:30 a.m. The exercise, which simulated an active shooter threat in a public location, occurred before the mall's operating hours and allowed the training to span the entire mall and make the training more realistic.
There were about 100 role players present to participate in the simulated training. This included 40 police officers, 20 fire fighters and paramedics, as well as many student-athletes from the SDSU track and cross country teams.
The Aztecs played the role of shoppers present during the simulated dangerous situation. The police coming into the setting had no idea of what just occurred, so they relied on what the student-athletes said and followed their directions of where the suspect went. Other student-athletes were "injured" during this simulation.