• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Subscribe
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Leadership
    • Are performance evaluations worth the effort?
      Leaders — the good, the bad and the horrible
      How not to fail as an outside chief
      Setting ethical expectations early in an officer’s career
      Go that extra mile with a smile
  • Topics
    • Leadership
      • Are performance evaluations worth the effort?
        Leaders — the good, the bad and the horrible
        How not to fail as an outside chief
        Setting ethical expectations early in an officer’s career
        Go that extra mile with a smile
    • Editor’s Picks
      • Off duty, but never off guard
        The tyranny of memories
        Meeting training needs on a limited budget
        Empowering through experience
        Getting ahead of the story
    • On the Job
      • Police chief: Officers likely prevented further violence in Minnesota...
        Policing and fatherhood
        2025 Top Cops
        What’s with all the gear?
        Reckless elegance
    • Labor
      • Dallas Police Department drops college requirement for police...
        Small Texas town left without a police force after firing its last...
        Port Authority Police Department welcomes 71 new officers
        The P.D. that wouldn’t go away
        Critical incidents and waiting woosah
    • Tech
      • How local police departments can combat cybercrime
        Your website is your front desk
        Telegram investigations
        Florida sheriff’s office deploys cutting-edge forensic tool to...
        A new chapter for Utah law enforcement
    • Training
      • Blind spots
        LPVOs are the next evolution of the patrol rifle
        Training vs. practice: Improve or maintain?
        Off duty, but never off guard
        Meeting training needs on a limited budget
    • Policy
      • Cartel intelligence operations streamline cross-border drug smuggling
        Michigan Supreme Court: Marijuana odor alone no longer justifies...
        Milwaukee P.D. and schools clash over SROs
        Seattle Police Department launches new plan to curb violent crime
        Buffer-zone law blocked in Louisiana
    • Health/Wellness
      • “Hold my beer”
        When empathy backfires
        Navigating retirement
        Keeping work at work and home at home
        Avoiding the road to burnout
    • Community
      • Police warn of growing “jugging” crime trend as attacks spread...
        Code enforcement officers: The community’s frontline property...
        San Diego Honors Fallen Officer Austin Machitar with Park Renaming
        Battle of the Badges baseball game to support injured Missouri officer
        Temple University Police celebrate 7-year-old’s support with...
    • Offbeat
      • Not eggzactly a perfect heist
        Pizza … with a side of alligator?
        Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
        Only in California?
        Durango, Colorado, police hop into action after unusual 9-1-1 call
    • We Remember
      • National Police Week 2025
        Honoring Fallen Heroes
        What’s with the white chairs?
        The pain and sorrow of loss
        A cop and his car
    • HOT Mail
      • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • On the Job
    • Police chief: Officers likely prevented further violence in Minnesota...
      Policing and fatherhood
      2025 Top Cops
      What’s with all the gear?
      Reckless elegance
  • Labor
    • Dallas Police Department drops college requirement for police...
      Small Texas town left without a police force after firing its last...
      Port Authority Police Department welcomes 71 new officers
      The P.D. that wouldn’t go away
      Critical incidents and waiting woosah
  • Tech
    • How local police departments can combat cybercrime
      Your website is your front desk
      Telegram investigations
      Florida sheriff’s office deploys cutting-edge forensic tool to...
      A new chapter for Utah law enforcement
  • Training
    • Blind spots
      LPVOs are the next evolution of the patrol rifle
      Training vs. practice: Improve or maintain?
      Off duty, but never off guard
      Meeting training needs on a limited budget
  • Policy
    • Cartel intelligence operations streamline cross-border drug smuggling
      Michigan Supreme Court: Marijuana odor alone no longer justifies...
      Milwaukee P.D. and schools clash over SROs
      Seattle Police Department launches new plan to curb violent crime
      Buffer-zone law blocked in Louisiana
  • Health/Wellness
    • “Hold my beer”
      When empathy backfires
      Navigating retirement
      Keeping work at work and home at home
      Avoiding the road to burnout
  • Community
    • Police warn of growing “jugging” crime trend as attacks spread...
      Code enforcement officers: The community’s frontline property...
      San Diego Honors Fallen Officer Austin Machitar with Park Renaming
      Battle of the Badges baseball game to support injured Missouri officer
      Temple University Police celebrate 7-year-old’s support with...
  • Offbeat
    • Not eggzactly a perfect heist
      Pizza … with a side of alligator?
      Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
      Only in California?
      Durango, Colorado, police hop into action after unusual 9-1-1 call
  • We Remember
    • National Police Week 2025
      Honoring Fallen Heroes
      What’s with the white chairs?
      The pain and sorrow of loss
      A cop and his car
  • HOT Mail
    • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
Search

Training

Training the best for the worst

FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness gets first responders ready to handle disasters

Jennifer Bacchus Published March 22, 2021 @ 9:00 am PDT

Students learn to peacefully control crowds during Field Force Operations training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness. (Center for Domestic Preparedness)
Students discuss and develop their response plan at the start of a crowd control exercise at the Center for Domestic Preparedness. The center uses role-players, smoke and a variety of other materials to make its training of law enforcement officers and other first responders as realistic as possible. (Center for Domestic Preparedness)

At the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), they say they “Train the Best for the Worst.”

“Our nation’s first responders — law enforcement officers, firefighters and health-care workers — are the primary and initial ones Americans turn to when disasters occur. We want to ensure they are fully prepared to handle their worst day on the job, whether that comes in the form of a hazardous material spill, a tornado or hurricane, or a terrorist event,” CDP Superintendent Tony Russell says. 

The center provides advanced all-hazards training to about 60,000 first responders annually through approximately 50 resident and non-resident courses and an equal number of online offerings.

Training at the CDP is provided free of charge by FEMA to state, local, tribal and territorial emergency responders, including round-trip transportation, meals and lodging.

Its library of classes spans a wide range of topics — from hazardous material detection and public order policing to disaster and mass casualty response. 

Jason Ely, a detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, took numerous CDP courses during his time with the agency’s Threat Interdiction Unit. While he was with the TIU, his duties included tactical hazardous material response and the unit required its team members to take two of the CDP’s hazardous material courses.

To enhance his skills and further assist his department, Ely continued to take courses past the requirement, focusing on chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) detection, mitigation and recovery.

“I looked at it as sustainment training. It makes no sense to go to a course once and expect to forever retain the information,” Ely says.

A student hammers into a cement pillar during Field Force Extraction training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness. The course teaches law enforcement officers to safely remove protesters from a variety of restraint systems. (Center for Domestic Preparedness)

As part of his training, Ely participated in exercises at the CDP’s Chemical, Ordnance, Biological and Radiological Training Facility (COBRATF) — the only site in the nation where civilian responders can train with toxic chemical agents and biological materials. 

“The hands-on training received by going into the COBRA gave me a level of confidence I wouldn’t have had otherwise,” he says. “You can’t get that level of confidence anywhere else.”

Ely also attended the CDP’s Instructor Training Certification Course, which allows him to teach certain CDP courses he attended to members of his unit and others in his community. 

Located on the site of the former Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama, the CDP’s campus encompasses many of the former post’s structures. 

In addition to the COBRATF, which was once used to train members of the Army’s chemical corps, the center transformed the post’s former hospital into the Noble Training Facility, where health-care providers are taught to manage mass casualty events, treat patients with highly infectious diseases and other advanced preparedness skills. 

The CDP also converted a former equipment-issue facility into the Advanced Responder Training Complex (ARTC), where students learn to deal with a wide range of hazards in various settings. The ARTC has an industrial park, a mock subway station and a simulated street scene with offices, businesses and warehouses.

Sergeant Jeff Baker, from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Management Unit, was introduced to the CDP when he first joined his organization.

“We were looking at changing our training … basically redoing the entire respirator program,” he explains. 

Baker has since attended five resident courses at the CDP and says he most benefits from the diversity of the classes, which often include a mix of law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics and health-care workers. 

“It’s always interesting to see the different approaches of the students from various backgrounds,” he says.

In 2020, when protests and riots occurred throughout the country, many law enforcement agencies turned to public policing training they received from the CDP.

Christian Sturdevant, a training coordinator for the Stockton Police Department in California, has taken several CDP offerings and regularly sends officers through the center’s Field Force Operations course.

“In terms of practicality, the Field Force Operations course is excellent,” Sturdevant says. “The information regarding tactics used by various groups is great and very useful.”

Students collect potential crime scene evidence during a hands-on exercise at the Center for Domestic Preparedness. The exercise is part of the center’s Evidence Collection in a Hazardous Materials Environment course, which is popular among members of the law enforcement community. (Center for Domestic Preparedness)

In fact, Sturdevant says his department has integrated information from that and other CDP courses into its mobile field force.

“It’s helped us here in our city,” Sturdevant says. “Every facet of what is taught [by the CDP], we use on our team.”

The center makes training as stress-free as possible by arranging all travel, meals and lodging.

Ely praises the CDP’s all-inclusive model of training, noting the only concern students have is learning.

“Of all the places I’ve been for training, the CDP has been the easiest and most user-friendly,” he says.

The end goal of each course taught at the CDP, according to Russell, is to ensure those who are the first to arrive at any incident or disaster are prepared.

“Whenever anything happens, the first one on the scene, besides the individual, is the first responder,” he said. “We are here to give them the hands-on training needed to save lives and protect property.”

For more information about the CDP, including a complete list of courses and how to register for training, visit cdp.dhs.gov.

As seen in the March 2021 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: Training

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • “Hold my beer”
  • NLEOMF’s 2025 Mid-Year Law Enforcement Fatalities Report reveals law enforcement deaths have decreased by more than 50% over last year
  • Are performance evaluations worth the effort?
  • Blind spots
  • Police warn of growing “jugging” crime trend as attacks spread across nation
  • Code enforcement officers: The community’s frontline property regulators
  • When empathy backfires
  • 2025 Mid-Year Law Enforcement Officers Fatality Report
  • National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Announces May 2025 Officer of the Month
  • Dallas Police Department drops college requirement for police recruits in effort to boost hiring

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

Off duty, but never off guard

Off duty, but never off guard

May 05, 2025

The tyranny of memories

The tyranny of memories

May 04, 2025

Meeting training needs on a limited budget

Meeting training needs on a limited budget

May 02, 2025

Empowering through experience

Empowering through experience

April 18, 2025

Policies | Consent Preferences | Copyright © 2025 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.