WCTC leads state in homeland security

Posted: Feb. 24, 2010

Village of Pewaukee — A first-of-its-kind security enhancement training program created at Waukesha County Technical College will aim to prevent situations like what recently occurred Austin, Texas.

Serving as dean of WCTC's Department of Criminal Justice, Center for Law Enforcement, Homeland Security and Counter-Terrorism Initiatives, Brian Dorow is able to use his former experience as a Waukesha police officer and apply it curriculum in these departments.

WCTC leads the state in homeland security training, which also led it to develop the new airport security program.

The department was chosen from applicants nationwide to receive a $750,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security in 2005 to create the General Aviation Security Training programs. The programs are designed to train airport stakeholders, police, fire and emergency medical services first responders in this field. WCTC has continued to receive money from Homeland Security to further this project, which it has built from the ground up.

"I think it's outstanding that we have a school in that state that won that," said Jerry Haberl, Wisconsin emergency management training supervisor. "Waukesha has been an outstanding resource for us, and we look to them for a lot of things we need training on."

Dorow also championed the curriculum for the Introduction to Homeland Security course taught at WCTC. This semesterlong class prepares first responders to deal with everything from addressing explosive devices to antiterrorism methods. Most important, students learn the Incident Command System (ICS).

ICS, Dorow explained, is the biggest change to emergency management since 9/11. In a nutshell, the complex and federally mandated system was created after 9/11 to help several agencies come together in the most effective way possible to respond to a disaster.

"WCTC and Northeast Technical College in Green Bay are two in the state that have stepped up and began offering this training course, and we are fortunate to have colleges stand up and provide it," Haberl said.

Homeland Security is not limited to thwarting terrorist attacks; it also covers natural disasters, loss of power, any public threat, Dorow explained.

"We just want to be ready. It can happen everywhere," he said.

During the introductory class on Thursday evenings, students engage in discussion over myriad topics and take field trips, such as to a fire station, to get hands-on experience with protective equipment and emergency response. At the end of the course, students create a mock city that takes up an entire room, Dorow creates hypothetical situations, and students react.

Karl Ericsson is working on his criminal justice degree and is enrolled in the class. He said the group discussion has been the most intriguing class, and pointed out that you don't have to go to a larger institute of high learning to get the level of training he will receive.

Former police chiefs, attorneys, FBI and secret service agents make up the staff that teach these courses at WCTC. Dorow maintains the introductory class and said the one he is teaching this semester is likely his most dynamic class yet.

Dorow is passionate about the classes and, serving as dean, he is able to ensure the area remains a leader in homeland security and that safety officials receive the highest level of training.

"If it's (homeland security) not the main headline, it's inside and what we realize is we have to be right 100 percent" in preventing disaster, Dorow said.