CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH POLICE CHIEF JEFF HANSEN
There were anxious moments at the Island Resort and Casino late Sunday afternoon after a call was received that a vehicle was there with explosives and guns inside.
Hannahville Tribal Police Chief Jeff Hansen says once the threat was made, the law enforcement response was immediately set into motion, with departments from both Delta and Menominee Counties converging on the casino.
“We knew that we needed bodies to handle such a large venue of people,” Hansen told RRN News on Monday. “Two things needed to happen, which did happen. Lots of people responded from all of the surrounding agencies, and once everybody got there, there’s a certain universal way of dealing with a possible active threat. You deal with what you know first. What’s the best way of keeping people safe. And then, what do you know about where the threat might be.”
“Then, you establish an incident commander, which in this case, was me. ”
With the threat being a supposed vehicle in the parking lot packed with explosives or firearms, Hansen says the decision was made to keep everybody who was inside the casino inside.
The casino was put into a restricted access..nobody in, nobody out, and vehicles were being searched.
“I told everyone what the plan was going to be,” Hansen said. “They already had the wheels in motion, quite frankly, when I got there. Making sure that everyone inside was calm and knew what was going on. Communication is big, and you get to the access points and communicate with people. We coordinated with the casino security staff. The plans are great plans, but eventually, you just problem-solving in real time.”
No injuries were reported and the all-clear was given at about 8:30 Sunday night.
“It went as smoothly as it possibly could,” Hansen said. “The officers were great to deal with, and the level of help that we received was unbelievably good. Everyone got out completely safe, and everyone was appreciative of being communicated with, as far as what was going on.”
Hansen, who had a long career at the Delta County Sheriff’s Department before coming to Hannahville, says he received specialized training from the United States Secret Service to handle situations like this one.
He says that a joint investigation between the Hannahville PD and Michigan Stare Policeis on-going, and the federal government could be called in if the situation warrants.
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