NCJ Number
214544
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 112,114,119
Date Published
April 2006
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article describes how to design and equip an effective police firearms tactics training program on a budget.
Abstract
As police budgets have decreased, requirements for police training have increased, putting police departments in a tough position. Police agencies are legally obligated to train officers in force-decision scenarios that mimic how an officer can be expected to act under duress. Careful documentation of this training process is essential because it may be legally scrutinized when an officer uses deadly force in the line of duty. Instructors are encouraged to record a DVD while walking through the training scenario in order to provide step-by-step documentation of how the range scenarios were explained to the class. The author notes that the qualification of officers can occur during range training sessions as long as a clear distinction is made between the training and the qualification. Instructors are advised to use a pass/fail standard for qualifying officers to avoid questions that could be raised in civil trials regarding the use of force. Force decision scenarios should be included in both training and qualification exercises and should include both “shoot” and “no shoot” targets. An officer may still be qualified for missing a “shoot” target but any officer who shoots a “no shoot” target should fail and documentation of this standard should be written into the range training plan. “Adrenaline dump” scenarios must also be included in trainings and qualifications in order to test officers’ fine motor control in stressful situations. Dan Gray, a police sergeant and owner of Trident Firearms Academy in central California, offers advice on how to equip a training range on a tight budget by, for example, using sub-caliber trainers and cardboard instead of expensive target systems. Other advice is to use night trainings to meet the requirement of low-light training instead of buying an expensive lighting system. Exhibits