Two crises were recently staged, and the drills allowed the police department to put itself through a stringent self-analysis in order to improve emergency planning and response capabilities. The drills gauged the response capabilities of all the police department's systems and units, and they also illustrated the police department's ability to work with fire departments and other police departments. Special weapon and tactical teams, hostage negotiators, role players, and emergency fire and medical personnel joined police officers to try to defuse situations that in real life could be violent or fatal. In the first drill scenario, three armed suspects robbed a bank, fled to an unoccupied middle school, and threatened to burn or bomb the building. In the second drill scenario, four suspects armed with guns and explosives entered a partially occupied high school and took an assistant principal and 25 students hostage. The first drill allowed the police department to take a hard look at its strengths and weaknesses, while the second drill gave the police department the chance to apply what it learned from the first drill and improve its performance. Planning and operational issues associated with conducting mock disasters in schools are discussed, as well as the role of such training in school violence prevention. 4 photographs