The Cumberland Emergency Response Team (CERT) consists of seven highly-skilled and motivated officers of the police department.
Sgt. Chris Golliday
Cpl. D. J. Jenkins
Pfc. Allen Brown
Pfc. Adam Ashby
Pfc. Bronson Becker
Pfc. Jim Beck
The Cumberland Fire Department’s Tactical Medics assigned to the team include:
Lt. Vince Pyle
Firefighters/Paramedics Dan Breeding, Andy Brown and Doug Beitzel.
Jason Layman, CRNP, from UPMC Western Maryland, is also on the team serving as the lead medic.
Dr. Rameen Shafiei, of UPMC Western Maryland serves as the team doctor.
Additional Training
In addition to being assigned to regular patrol shifts, these officers train a minimum of eight additional hours each month in emergency response tactics. The team is considered “on call” on a permanent basis, responding to an emergency at any time. The team is trained for any type of situation from barricaded hostage incidents to high-risk warrant service. The team also utilizes the department’s Crisis Negotiation Team, when needed. The CERT team was activated thirty-six (36) times in 2018. They also conducted demonstrations at special events for recruitment and other public relations assignments.