Tripwire Operations Group LLC Provides Industry-Leading Training in Security Solutions and Explosive Products for First Responders
GETTYSBURG, Pa., Jan. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 6, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced a project to find out just what level of military equipment and tactics/training local police departments have obtained in recent years.
ACLU affiliates in 23 states simultaneously filed more than 255 public records requests to determine the extent to which local police departments are using federally subsidized military technology and tactics that are traditionally used overseas, the release said.
Clearly, not everyone is on board with what critics call the "militarization" of local police.
Ryan Morris, owner of Tripwire Operations Group in Gettysburg, thinks those critics are missing the point.
"I have been a police officer for 18 years," said Morris, who founded his company in 2005. "Law enforcement gets state and federal grants to help them protect the jurisdictions they serve."
He said bomb-sniffing dogs, military-style weaponry and armored vehicles are simply reflections of the time, he said.
"Countless incidents over recent years, have pointed to the need for the training and resources necessary for the police to do their jobs."
The consensus of various sources point to one incident that launched the "militarization" of local police departments, a shoot-out between two bank robbers and the Los Angeles Police Department on Feb. 28, 1997.
"The North Hollywood Shootout," as it came to be known, put two criminals carrying a number of illegal automatic weapons and wearing armor up against a numerically superior force of police whose handguns and shotguns and Kevlar armor were outmatched in every way.
In 44 minutes, the two men, Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu fired approximately 1100 rounds, compared to about 650 fired by all of the police combined.
At the end of that time, both gunmen were dead, but 11 police officers and seven civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed. Even today, 17 years later, it is considered one of the longest and bloodiest events in police history.
Seven months later, the Department of Defense gave 600 surplus M16s to the LAPD, and the trend toward putting a more military face on local police departments was born.
In short, today's police departments, even in small areas, are not the bucolic example set in 1950s and 1960s television.
The ACLU was motivated by some apparent abuses of some of that special know-how and heavy weaponry. Among items of concern listed on its website are:
- Confused after throwing a deafening and blinding "flash-bang" into a home, police mistakenly shot and killed a sleeping seven-year-old;
- Police in North Dakota borrowed a $154 million Predator drone from Homeland Security to arrest a family who refused to return six cows that wandered onto their farm;
- A county sheriff's department in South Carolina has an armored personnel carrier dubbed "The Peacemaker" which can shoot weapons that the U.S. military specifically refrains from using on people;
- Police in Arkansas announced plans to patrol streets wearing full SWAT gear and carrying AR-15 assault rifles;
- New Hampshire police received federal funds for a counter-attack vehicle, asking "what red-blooded American cop isn't going to be excited about getting a toy like this?"
- Drone manufacturers may offer police remote controlled drones with weapons like rubber bullets, Tasers, and tear gas;
Morris said most problems may be avoided through proper training.
Tripwire Operations Group can be found in a not-very-imposing building on the Baltimore Pike outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
It would be accurate to say most people in the immediate area have never heard of them. The company keeps a low profile generally except for the police and military communities. Deputy Harry McKinney of the Chester County Sheriff's office said that is a good thing.
"The right people know about them," he said.
Tripwire has a very specialized clientele.
"Our capabilities statement is simple," Morris wrote on the company's website. (www.tripwireops.org) "We are first responders dedicated to first responders. We believe the most highly trained create a safer America. We prepare military and first responders to protect our country by providing products, training, services and relationships that together no one else provides."
The website's graphics look like the cover art to one of those combat computer games. Tripwire is no game.
"We're all either police or military background," Morris said.
He said the company has nine full-time employees. The website also says the company has also recruited a number of "Federal agents, retired bomb squad personnel, retired police officers, military personnel and some active state and local police officers" as part of their law enforcement training network.
"We're growing," Morris said in a recent telephone interview. "We all have law enforcement and military backgrounds. We do our instructing all over the country. We're teaching cutting edge courses no one else is instructing. We also sell firearms and explosives," he said.
To date, Tripwire has trained more than 10,000 first responders in dealing with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and explosive recognition alone.
The firm's capabilities range from the sale and export of explosive products, to firearm sales, cutting edge training for law enforcement and military personnel to providing special effects pyrotechnics for the motion picture industry.
Tripwire's trainers combine more than a century's worth of experience in law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical service, HazMat, SWAT and Special Response Teams, corporate security and bomb squads. Tripwire's K9 division provides live explosive training materials in a training kit specifically designed for the purpose, and provides advanced certification programs for Federal, State and Local K9 teams.
The main focus of the company, however, is on the real-life drama of fighting crime and terroristic threats.
Morris, himself a former bomb squad commander, said he "felt there was an unmet need for training. We initially offered 31 different classes, and that was our start. We now offer over 60 different classes."
Tripwire provides training in a number of areas, including security solutions, and explosive products sold to help train responders and bomb detection dogs using the smells of the real thing.
In a testimonial on the Tripwire site, a deputy with the Chester County Sheriff's Office wrote: "Thank you very much for the handlers' course and the K9 Explosive kit we ordered. Our K9 unit could not be more pleased with this product and your company. Your course was very well put together and squared away. Your experience and knowledge of explosives was impressive and very professional. I would personally recommend you to anyone in the K9 community. Thanks again for the very personal treatment and we look forward to training together in the future." Chester County Deputy Harry McKinney and Sheriff Carolyn B. Welsh said they have relied on Tripwire's capabilities repeatedly for a number of years.
Welsh said members of her department have attended some training seminars in Adams County, hosted by Adams County Sheriff James Muller.
"Tripwire has given us...numerous bomb training classes. We have used them for training for a good while," Muller said. "On top of that, they donated our bomb dog, Leggie, to us. She came fully trained. If we were to have bought her, she would have cost from $8000 to $15,000. They were also instrumental in getting a dog for Chief (Michael) Woods in McSherrystown, Pennsylvania"
"I was in the Marine Corps," Muller said. "I went to demolition school while I was in, so I knew a little bit about demolition, I think they really know their stuff."
The kudos on the website don't stop with those from Adams and Chester counties' law enforcement communities. Similar praise came in from the Baltimore County Police Department and others.
"We're doing things that nobody else is doing. It's not IF it's going to happen, it's WHEN and we want to help prepare our first responders to be ready," he said.
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