SAN JUAN – A Rio Grande Valley police department is taking a proactive approach to prepare for active shooter situations.

San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS us they’re getting more calls for their special response teams to cover large events.

He says because of recent shooting events across the country, they’re creating two more counter-sniper teams.

“The mentality that things like this are not going to happen in this area shouldn't be there; not if it's going to happen. We need to be prepared when it happens. What are we going to do?” said Gonzalez.

The police chief says the counter sniper teams consist of two people that work with specialized equipment.

The department’s new teams are federally funded, so they will not impact taxpayer dollars.