By Linda N. Weller, The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.)
ALTON, Ill. -- Loud shots rang out Wednesday morning inside a vacated apartment in the former Sullivan Homes public housing complex, but it wasn’t a criminal act this time.
Two members of the Illinois State Police Tactical Response Team pummeled a “bad guy” poster tacked onto a 3/8-inch-thick steel and conveyer-belt rubber bullet trap with simulated bullets.
One type of bullet had fluorescent, orange-colored soap tips that left easily discernible hit marks on a wall and target; the other used frangible bullets with compacted clay ends that sprayed pieces across the room upon contact with the steel reinforced “perpetrator.”
“The soap stings. It’s close to a real-life gun, as real as possible without being a real bullet,” said Sgt. Joe Collins of the 16-member team, based in Collinsville.
The brief session Wednesday at the now-empty complex, which had seen its share of violent crimes over the decades, was only a preview for Collins and another member of the Tactical Response Team, Master Sgt. Brian Clements.
Clements, Collins and Jack Quigley, director of the Madison County Emergency Management Agency, were on site to prepare for bona fide training scenarios with their team.
“We are fine-tuning our skills. We train all the time, day in and day out, if we are not operational,” Clements said. “This place will be invaluable.”
“We will set up things as real-life as possible,” Collins said.
The State Police Tactical Response Team covers the southern-most third of Illinois, including State Police Districts 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 and 22. The team members do not go on routine patrols, as other state troopers do, but rather are specially trained to respond to the more dangerous, volatile calls for hostage situations, as well as executing high-risk arrests and warrants.
They also protect dignitaries from the national level on down.
“We also do high-risk federal prison transports for the U.S. Marshal’s Office and any other assistance that comes down the pike,” Collins said.
The men drove up in a large unmarked sports utility vehicle, its rear area crammed with ammunition, weapons and other equipment. Collins and Clements wore bulletproof vests, camouflage-print pants, black boots, long-sleeved black T-shirts, helmets and protective goggles.
One of the team members grabbed a compact, 35-pound, black metal battering ram with two handles and swung to pop open the metal front door of one of the empty apartments. Inside, there was a roll of old, stained carpeting, a torn-up and discolored mattress and old couch.
The men then scoped out the ghostly quiet housing complex for future training sessions and shot off the “Simunition” guns.
Quigley announced Tuesday that police, fire departments and ambulance services will be able to schedule training sessions through him at the old set of buildings through Nov. 18.
The last residents moved out of Sullivan in September, and the Madison County Housing Authority plans to allow the city of Alton to demolish them soon.
“Other organizations plan on doing ventilation and rapid intervention team” exercises, Quigley said.