Palos Park Police, First Responders to Run Crisis Drill

PALOS PARK, IL — Palos Park police will soon put themselves to the test of a simulated disaster.

On October 18, police will stage a crisis situation that would trigger a sudden influx of police, media, and concerned community members.

The Palos Park scenario will involve simulated disaster/emergency situations with a full response examining Palos Park’s readiness pre-event, during an event, post-event, and an after-action review of what went right and what went wrong.

“The goal of this mock exercise is a very real test of our ability to respond to an actual disaster/emergency situation," said Police Commissioner Dan Polk.

Throughout the scenarios, teams of officers, working with community entities, will train on real scenarios that have occurred across the country. The goal is to improve communications, learn how to train better in the future, what equipment may be needed and a peer review of how well Palos Park Police can handle responding to multiple incidents at once.

Police will review training with the goal of learning to work through a pressure-filled crisis as it unfolds.

“We hope our officer and community stake holders take away from this 'lessons learned' and how to be better prepared for the worst case scenario, should it happen here," Polk said.

photo via Shutterstock