New Mexico State University's police and fire departments participated in a multi-agency hazardous materials crisis management exercise Tuesday, Jan. 23, on the Las Cruces campus.

U.S. Army North, which is responsible for developing and sustaining training and response capabilities for numerous Civil Support Teams throughout the United States and its territories, coordinated Tuesday's exercise for the 64th Civil Support Team, based out of Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

The all-day exercise commenced shortly after 9 a.m. at Cole Village, an unoccupied family housing complex on the NMSU's south side.

The scenario involved NMSU police serving a warrant on a high-risk suspect wanted on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance. Upon executing the warrant with assistance from the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team, law enforcement discovered a hazardous materials situation and requested support from additional agencies.

Throughout the exercise, NMSU police officers and firefighters were part of a unified incident command and response capability, enabling those in training to interface and integrate with other local, state and federal resources; conduct threat and hazard assessment; and assist in accomplishing incident command goals and objectives.

"I want to thank all the emergency responders and additional personnel who participated in this exercise," NMSU interim President Jay Gogue said. "Their work ensures our campus is as safe as possible for all our students and employees."

In addition to NMSU's police and fire departments, the following agencies also participated in the exercise: Las Cruces Fire Department, Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office, Doña Ana County's Office of Emergency Management, New Mexico National Guard's 64th Civil Support Team, the FBI and American Medical Response ambulance service.

Deputy Chief Justin Dunivan of the NMSU Police Department said participating in such exercises allows NMSU to ensure a coordinated, timely and effective response and recovery in the event of a major crisis incident.

"It's very difficult to get a lot of different people – whether it's local, state or federal partners – together to work in collaboration on something like this," Dunivan said. "But today was very successful. Everybody worked very closely together to ultimately take the suspect in custody. The warrant was served, and the NMSU community, overall, was safeguarded."

NMSU's police officers and firefighters will participate in a second hazardous materials crisis management exercise Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Fulton Center, also on the Las Cruces campus. The all-day exercise is closed to the public. The campus community and the public should avoid the area.

To learn more about NMSU's administrative regulations regarding emergency preparedness and response, visit https://arp.nmsu.edu/16-10 /.

The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-participates-in-hazardous-materials-crisis-management-exercise/s/886bcdc2-376b-4cca-a444-ce509ac1165e