DV Journal

The sound of gunshots rattled down the school corridor, “rap, rap, rap.”

Armed officers soon followed, rapidly entering a classroom, shouting “Hands up!” and subduing the perpetrators.

“Good identification. Good shot placement,” said the trainer.

That was part of a counter-terrorism training exercise the DVJournal observed Friday at the former Oliver Heckman Elementary School in Langhorne. Police and sheriff’s officers took part in training by representatives of Total Security International (TSI), an Israeli company hired to teach them how to respond if terrorists attack.

State Sen. Frank Farry (R-Bucks), and state Reps. K.C. Tomlinson (R-Bensaleim), Kristin Marcell (R-Richboro), Shelby Labs (R-Plumstead) and Joe Hogan (R-Penndel) were on hand with Sheriff Fred Harran for a press conference before the demonstration.

Farry said 120 Bucks County law enforcement officers are participating in the training, funded with $300,000 secured by the legislators.

“This is the kind of training, and I can speak to it as a 35-year first responder, when you do specialized training, you hope you never need to use it.  But in the event, for any of these officers, if a tragedy befalls Bucks County, and these officers need to use this training, this specialized training will help them mitigate whatever is transpiring,” said Farry.

“The important part of that is keeping the residents of our community and our children safe.”

Harran cited the Columbine High School shooting and the Sept. 11 terror attacks, saying, “This is something we’re faced with every day…law enforcement and first responders, not just throughout America, not just throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but right here in Bucks County, are faced with what’s happening 10 minutes from now. What could go wrong?”

Gideon Lapin talks to Reps. Shelby Labs and K.C. Tomlinson

Bringing in Israelis to train the officers, “We’re talking about the best of the best,” said Harran. “The Israeli military, the special forces of Israel, to come and teach this to U.S. local law enforcement. We have 120 out of our 900 officers right now getting this training.

“They have 60 S.W.A.T. officers and 60 school resource officers being trained. God forbid, if it ever happened here in Bucks County, we would have additional training. Not just training from some online organization, but the Israelis to teach us here in America how to respond to something they live with every day,” Harran added.

Lower Southampton Police Chief John T. Krimmel said this was the first time he knew of school resource officers receiving this sort of advanced training. He called it “tip of the spear training, if God forbid an emergency arose at one of their schools.”

TSI CEO Gideon Lapin, a retired Israeli Defense Force infantry captain, said the sad truth is this training is necessary.

“It’s not a question of if, it’s when,” said Lapin. “What we bring to the table is not just showing people how to shoot, or how to run, it’s the whole story of the Israeli mindset, the Israeli DNA, the Israeli striving for engagement, the combat.

“We want the people here to understand, if (attackers) come to a school, they can’t wait. They’re to rush in and do it the right way. They’re to be trained in order for them to have the self-confidence and the self-assurance that they can do the work and eventually neutralize the risk.”

“You have to be trained to strive for engagement,” Lapin continued. “This is what we bring from Israel.”

Bucks County has three regional S.W.A.T. teams.

Asked about whether the officers would take this training back to teach others in their departments, Farry said he thought it was too specialized.

“‘Train a trainer’ is good for some things. I’m not sure it is here. There’s nothing like getting the Israeli people’s experience. These men and women in the Israeli military, secret service, and special police live this every day…we just can’t imagine living under fire every day like they do in Israel…I’m not sure anybody disagrees. The Israelis are the best,” said Harran.

DVJournal asked whether teachers and school administrators might also be trained in defense tactics.

“It’s up to them. We can train them,” said  Krimmel.

“There are lockdown trainings that go on in all of our schools,” said Farry.

“The training is skill usage,” Farry added. “It is applicable if it’s at a church, a mall, or anywhere.”

Lapin said his team’s training is like a puzzle. “The more you train, the more things you give to teach and learn.”

In August 2021, 8-year-old Fanta Bility died after she was struck by gunfire from Sharon Hill police officers, who were firing in response to nearby gunshots.

On Monday, the Bility family and state lawmakers announced legislation requiring Delaware County police to have more training in hopes of avoiding another tragedy.

Siddiq Kamara, a cousin and spokesman for the Bility family, told DVJournal the family has been working on the bill for the last eight months.

“We spoke to elected officials and stakeholders in the county, in the commonwealth, trying to have better police training. That’s really needed. So we’re very, very grateful to have this announced today.

“We have the support of a lot of elected officials,” said Kamara. “Because everybody wants police training and more police training and situational awareness training. We got a lot of positive feedback on this bill.”

While police officers already undergo firearms training, the measure would require “situational training, not just taking a firearm and going to the range and just shooting at a target but actually putting them in a situation where you have to react,” Kamara said.

Police fatally shot young Fanta and wounded her sister as the family left a football game. The officers– Brian Devaney, Sean Dolan, and Devon Smith— believed the gunfire came from a nearby car. After an extensive criminal investigation by the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, the three were arrested and pled guilty to 10 counts of recklessly endangering another person. Previously, the Bility family had reached an $11 million settlement with Sharon Hill Borough and other defendants, according to their attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr.

“I’m grateful to be here today,” said Fanta’s mother tearfully at a Monday morning press conference outside Academy Park High School, where her daughter was shot. “I thank everybody.”

State Rep. David Delloso (D-Ridley Park), who is sponsoring the bill, said, “Our police are begging for additional training. My legislation isn’t about spending more time at the range shooting straighter. It’s about making the best decision in a high-pressure situation.”

Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Delaware), a Senate sponsor, was also on hand, along with District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

Kamara, president of the Fanta Bility Foundation, said the Fraternal Order of Police also supports the bill.

Castor said he’d like to see police throughout Pennsylvania receive the additional training.

“This training needs to be implemented statewide,” said Castor. “The more often police officers are put in a position where they have to make snap judgments about whether to use deadly force or not in a controlled practice setting, the better.

“If you don’t have that adrenaline going through you at training, how can we expect our officers to handle the situation correctly when the adrenaline is pumping for real. That is why creating as close to realistic conditions as possible, with graded where failure means redoing the training, is absolutely essential. That is the message of Fanta’s law, I hope. That is what we asked the judge to order. It appears that members of the general assembly in Delaware County. were listening, and I commend them for this common sense approach to policing, especially when we’ve seen so many crazy proposals concerning policing come about late,” said Castor.

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