Crime & Safety

Officers Participate in Joint Training

Public Safety Officers from the City of Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Shores and cross-trained police officers from Harper Woods participated in group training Tuesday on St. Clair Street near the Elworthy baseball field.

Seven officers from three area policing agencies participated in pump operations of a fire truck training Tuesday in the as part of the newest efforts to streamline fire operations in the Grosse Pointes.

Tuesday's training, led by Fire Service Instructor and Fire Technology Coordinator John Smilnak of Schoolcraft College, is the second shared training session among the Pointes and Harper Woods.

The efforts are the result of . The are:

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  • having officers from the five Pointes participate in joint training sessions
  • having the five public safety departments purchase fire equipment as one unit rather than five, to save money and to ensure all equipment is interchangeable and compatible with the other departments for smoother operations at the scenes of fires where they may all be working together to battle a blaze
  • to establish automatic aid operations for particularly high-risk or high-occupancy structures

The training is among the first of the three objectives to be put to practice. Public safety officials are currently working on the list of automatic aid locations, which are likely to be finalized later this month. 

Tuesday's training also included two Harper Woods police officers who are cross-trained as firefighters. The Pointes have begun inviting the cross-trained officers to their fire operation training sessions because they are able to respond and fight fires in cities other than Harper Woods.

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With the , the liklihood of the cross-trained officers having to respond to a fire in the Pointes is higher than in the past. The firefighters are staffed at one or two men per shift in Harper Woods due to the layoffs and the mutual aid agreement requires Harper Woods to respond with at least three firefighters, Harper Woods Police Chief Jim Burke said.

Those officers have not been training in fire operations much since graduating from the fire academy due to the legal ruling that prevents them from fighting fires in their own city.

The officers set up training on St. Clair Street next to the Elworthy baseball fields used for little league games and hooked up one of the City's firetruck to a hydrant. Each of the officers participated in a small group session with Smilnak practicing the control involving different water pressures.

They also practiced using a pump that remains on the truck but allows them to control where the spray of water goes. The officers were in the classroom for half the day and then on St. Clair Street for the other half of the day.

The officers who participated Tuesday include:

  • Public Safety Officer James Tassie
  • Sgt. Kenneth Werenski
  • Sgt. Tony Railing
  • Lt. Ed Tujaka
  • Public Safety Officer Greg Burks
  • Public Safety Officer Dan Eckert
  • Public Safety Officer Lisa Monticciolo

Harper Woods

  • Police officer Jon Henninger
  • Sgt. John Vorgitch


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