While they hope to never deal with such tragedies, leaders with the Dowagiac Police Department are looking to enhance the department’s ability to save lives during mass shootings or similar violent acts.

On Monday, the Dowagiac City Council approved a $9,175 grant request from the department to use Pokagon Fund money to develop a new Rescue Task Force program. The grant money, if awarded to the department, will be used to purchase ballistic body armor and helmets, and combat-grade medical equipment, such as chest seals, tourniquets and stretchers, which will allow the city’s police and fire crews to better assist victims in the event a shooting, stabbing or other violent incident occurs within city limits, according to a memo written to the council and city manager by Dowagiac Director of Public Safety Steve Grinnewald.

The new program will call for officers and firefighters to team up when responding to violent incidents. While one team of police are dispatched to neutralize the suspect or suspects responsible for the violence, another group of officers are tasked with protecting fire crews in “warm zones” — areas that are not in immediate danger at the crime scene — who are responsible for treating the wounds of people injured in an attack.

This policy is an evolution of the department’s prior practices, which required officers to deal with the threat and clear the crime scene before allowing emergency personnel to treat victims — that few minutes delay could cost lives, Grinnewald said following Monday’s council meeting.

“This process takes a long time. Unfortunately, those victims continue to sit there injured the entire time,” he said. “This problem is something the task force is looking to solve.”

The police department is forming the Rescue Task Force based on tactics and techniques for emergency response that are becoming increasingly more common across law enforcement agencies nationwide, Grinnewald said. Department leaders were introduced to the idea during a Department of Homeland Security conference nearly two years ago, the police chief added.

With the city’s police and fire department’s having a close working relationship, Grinnewald said such a program is a natural fit for Dowagiac. When he approached members of the firehouse with the idea in the past, nearly every firefighter showed interest in spite of the potential risk, he said.

Grinnewald decided to reach out to the Pokagon Fund for assistance to get the program off the ground, as the Dowagiac department also has a close partnership with the Pokagon Tribal Police Department. While the grant dollars will cover equipment, the department plans to pay for the additional training out of pocket, Grinnewald said.

If the Pokagon Fund approves the department’s grant request, the police chief expects to have the program operational by the end of summer, before the beginning of a new school year.

In spite of the investment, Grinnewald said the time and money is well worth the potential lives the task force may save in the event tragedy strikes Dowagiac.

“Hopefully, we will have the best unused equipment in the region,” he said.