I can answer that! Most police never fire their guns (outside of training) in their entire careers! That’s why the fraction of cops who have the interest and aptitude for being in gun fights get into special teams like SWAT, or transfer into bigger departments where there’s a need for that kind of thing. The rest, especially in a small town like this, really are Barney Fife type police.
It’s really tough to train people in a subject like that if they aren’t interested in it and the police chief doesn’t see the need and the city council isn’t even aware of it. And that’s all ok, until suddenly it isn’t.
And remember, building clearing and team tactics aren’t just one-time training. It requires regular (several times per year) refreshers. Most cops just aren’t interested.
This may come as a shock to you how little firearms training of ANY KIND police get. The one reference I found says that the average cop trains twice a year, about 15 hours total… PER YEAR! That’s just enough to stay proficient with basic handgun use. That’s all! That’s not enough for ANY team tactics, ANY useful training on the AR15 or shotgun, ANY advanced handgun skills. That’s just enough to be able to draw, shoot, and reholster safely. That’s all! Probably many cops are below that average, firing under a couple hundred rounds per year for their qualification, which btw is very easy.
I’m not LE but I do have a CCW and I train a lot more than that, including professional training classes, AR15 classes, occasional night shooting classes, etc. That’s way beyond what ordinary cops do for training, although it’s a big step below what SWAT does for training. Probably many people who have CCWs train more than average cops, because people with CCWs are often firearms enthusiasts. I would get professional training a couple times a month if I had time for it. I still would be far below a SWAT professional in ability level, of course.
If you look at cops who are in positions like SRO, probably 99% of them will never use a gun outside of training. Such cops just are not going to be interested in team tactics and building clearing training, and again, that’s totally ok… until suddenly it isn’t.
15 hours per year of firearms training… barely enough to maintain basic proficiency. and safe handling.
None of this excuses inaction in this case.
On another subject, this is a major reason why arming teachers is a terrible idea. If cops aren’t getting adequate firearms training because it’s not a major part of their job, teachers really are not going to. The only exception would be the very few teachers who are firearms enthusiasts and want to get lots of training. How many of those are there? Couldn’t be very many.