WARMINGTON: Toronto Police doing their best to prepare for worst

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It may look like terrorism, but Toronto Police say what you may see this week is actually counterterrorism.

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It may look like police reacting to a terror attack, but what’s happening is a practice run of that very scenario.

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Don’t panic if you see it.

“This is a planned training exercise,” Toronto Police said. “There is no threat to public safety.”

The purpose of this mock event is to ensure public safety should there ever be a terror incident. And with the World Cup coming to town this summer and world events being in chaos, police just never know what could happen.

They have to be prepared for it.

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“A public safety exercise is taking place in Toronto beginning today through April 15th,” Toronto Police said on Monday. “Disruptions are expected to be minimal, but you may notice police and military personnel, vehicles, and some noise as part of the training.”

Toronto is becoming accustomed to long guns

Torontonians in recent weeks have already had a taste of this kind of thing with the deployment of Taskforce Guardian where police are stationed outside of sporting events or religious sites to deal with modern-day threats.

But this project will also include military. Toronto Police spokesperson Const. Viktor Sarudi told the Toronto Sun that “Exercise Vital Archer is a long-standing, bilateral, interagency training exercise focused on responding to complex, high-risk incidents, including weapons of mass destruction threats.”

This involves the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and others.

“This exercise isn’t directly related to the World Cup, but it helps inform planning for major events in Toronto, including the World Cup, by strengthening coordination and response capabilities across agencies,” Sarudi said. “This is the first time that Toronto Police has taken part, and the first time a Canadian municipal police service has taken part.”

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The training is something people noticed in Cobourg down Hwy. 401 over the weekend, as well. In fact, in that case, residents told Today’s Northumberland’s Pete Fisher that they saw police dressed in full tactical gear and carrying weapons while boarding a lake freighter, which was off the shore of Lake Ontario.

This is expected to happen along Toronto’s waterfront as well.

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The Breaker’s Bob Mackin said there have been similar exercises that took place last year in British Columbia. But this time there are expected to be Americans involved. However, “the United States military is participating in the exercise from within the United States.” In this case “the exercise involves the Canadian Armed Forces, the United States military, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Toronto Police Service, and other government partners from both countries.”

According to Toronto Police, “Exercise Vital Archer is a routine, bilateral interagency training exercise and is not connected to any real-world threat.” The training is “designed to strengthen coordination and readiness in response to complex, high-risk incidents, including terrorism and other major security events.”

But it might look real — in case it ever is real.

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