Portsmouth Police, SWAT, Others to Hold Training Exercise Friday

Editor’s note: This post has been corrected. The exercise is July 24; an alert reminder will be sent out today to let people know of the action on Friday.

On July 24, 2015, the region’s first responders will participate in a large-scale regional training exercise designed to test the critical skills and protocols that would be used responding to a high-level critical incident, according to Chief Stephen J. DuBois of the Portsmouth Police Department.

SWAT, Fire, EMS, and municipal police will all have the opportunity to respond and train during the exercise called Praetorian 724.

“The Department of Homeland Security has gone to great lengths to design an event that incorporates almost all the necessary personnel and equipment needed to secure a successful outcome for such an incident,” DuBois said in a statement. “ This means people in some Portsmouth neighborhoods and downtown areas will hear loud noises during the course of the exercise. The areas specifically affected will be the in-town neighborhoods around the high school and the middle school.”

These residents will also be receiving a Reverse 911 call reminder on Thursday, July 23. The noises and activity connected to the training are no cause for alarm, he noted, they are part of the training.

Additionally, people will see uniformed officers with training weapons, and emergency response vehicles and equipment, which are also part of the exercise. DuBois is asking residents not to call “911” or Portsmouth Dispatch in response to the training.

The event is a scheduled and controlled training incident and is planned to run from about 9 a.m. until about 2 p.m. The Portsmouth Public Library will be open during the training period; no fines will be assessed for the day. The Portsmouth Pool will also be open.