ATHOL – The two Athol police officers are responding to a disturbance in a bar. They arrive to see a man pointing a gun at another man lying on the floor. The suspect is dressed in street clothes and says he is a police officer, but there is no obvious evidence to show that he is. A uniformed officer already at the scene points his gun at the man with the gun. Several times the Athol officers shout orders for the man to drop his gun, but he refuses. The officers end up shooting at him, and the scene suddenly stops as though someone hit the pause button on a remote control.
The scenario in reality was a projection on a screen inside a 48-foot trailer used as a mobile firearms training range set up in the Athol Police Department parking lot.
Athol Police Sgt. Jarret Mousseau said both the Athol and Orange police departments and Warwick Police Chief David Shoemaker were participating in the live-fire trainings on Thursday and Friday.
Mousseau said the “phenomenal” training involves “actual ‘shoot, don’t shoot’ scenarios” that help police look beyond the tunnel vision that can occur in threatening situations. “In training, so often you’re shooting at the center mass” the space that can be seen. The active shooting scenarios involve “communicating” with the onscreen threat, then advancing towards the threat.
One of the 800 available scenarios shows a man with a weapon using a woman as a shield, blocking most of his body except for his shoulder. Athol Police Officer and firearms instructor Charles Pinder told Detective Peter Buck and Officer Mark Vitale, the two officers who participated in the bar disturbance scenario, to look for what’s presented to them as a target.
Following each scenario, Pinder and Athol Police Officer Erick Fredette, also a firearms instructor, discussed with Buck and Vitale their reasons for reacting or not reacting, and for them to indicate obvious and subtle cues such as body posture and movement that may have led them to their reactions, or clues that they may have missed. Vitale, for instance, said he noticed the man with the gun in the bar had something attached to his belt that he could have mistaken for a police badge.
Each scenario began with a description of what was about to play out; “You are responding to shots in a Temple,” for example. Buck and Vitale participated in other scenarios that included a parking lot dispute, a suspicious man in a school recreation area, a disgruntled ex-teacher at a college, gunshots at a school, an argument in a hospital room with shots fired, a disturbance at a convenience store, and an illegal gun deal. A traffic stop appeared to be routine until the driver opened the car door and pointed a gun at the officer who had turned and walked away.
Pinder reminded the officers to know the condition of their firearms at all times, and in the event that they’re out of bullets, instead of shutting down, reload and “get back into the fight.” Pinder was wearing a cap that said “No one is coming. It’s up to us.” Fredette said of a scenario of a suspect with a knife, “don’t ever let them take a step toward you,” because the knife holder can get to an officer very quickly if he’s within 21 feet. “Action beats reaction every time,” Pinder said.
The officers also trained in complete darkness, firing varying rounds at paper targets, and doing cover/covering drills involving their weapons.
Jerry Tilbor, Operations Manager of the Sudbury-based Blue Line Corp., which provided the training range, said the trailer was custom-built by a defense contractor and that he travels all over New England to train different departments. Over the past 10 years the trailer has traveled from Maine to Connecticut and New York. “It’s a great training tool,” he said. The ventilated trailer contains a control room, full-view shooting stalls, and ballistiplate steel covered with acoustical material.
Tilbor said the scenarios take place in lower lighting to benefit the night shifts and are important because night sights can glow on the firearms and muzzle flash can temporarily blind the officer. He said an FBI study found that more than 70 percent of all officer-involved shootings occur in diminished lighting. “It could be in a hallway with low lighting,” or a situation where they have to manipulate a flashlight and a firearm. “If you’re not practicing, accidents can happen. You’re better off to have it happen in training,” he said.
The scenarios also play an important part in training because the officers have a split second to make their decisions, Tilbor said.
“We don’t shoot to kill, we shoot to stop the threat,” Sgt. Mousseau said.