Middlesex County holds second annual
tactical challenge
The 54 competitors at the 2017 Middlesex County Tactical Challenge
In 2016, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office organized and
ran its first annual M.C.P.O. Tactical Challenge for Police Officers at
the Middlesex County Police Range in Keasbey. The event was de-
signed to test officers’ skills with their service weapons, with awards
being given to the top three finishers, as well as the top two-person
team and top out-of-county shooter.
Tactical law enforcement competitions are not common; howev-
er, with the approval of Prosecutor Andrew Carey and Chief Gerard
McAleer, preparation, planning, designing and building the event
with the help of Middlesex County Prosecutors Office Local 214
members was underway.
On Sept. 9 of this year, the second annual Middlesex County
Prosecutor’s Office Tactical Challenge kicked off, with 54 competi-
tors from various agencies competing for top honors.
The event consists of six individual courses of fire that are de-
signed to challenge the officers’ weapon-handling skills and their
ability to think on their feet, while shooting for speed and accuracy.
Officers had to shoot from the seated position, shoot while moving,
reload in awkward positions and perform specific tasks, all while
engaging targets at various distances and angles.
Range staff duties were carried out by volunteers from numer-
ous agencies. Staff handled duties such as registration, range safety,
scorekeeping at the stages and overall stats. Shooters were broken
down into six squads that remained together for the entire day, as
they rotated through each stage as a unit.
Throughout the day, competitors were overheard offering chal-
lenges to each other for best score on a stage, highest overall finish
and support for one another as they prepared to shoot each stage.
Feedback from the competitors after the event was overwhelmingly
positive.
Top honors went to the following shooters:
First Place: Greg Liszczak of New Brunswick PD
Second Place: Michael Cinardo of Sayreville PD
Third Place: Marco Bruno of Woodbridge PD
Top Team: Greg Liszczak and Karl Murvay of New Brunswick PD
Top Gun “Out of County:” Peter Weremijenko of Trenton PDd
A competitor makes his way through the
course at the 2017 Tactical Challenge.
Staff members
observe and keep
score as a compet-
itor completes the
challenge
The five top finishers
for the day. From left,
Karl Murvay (top team),
Greg Liszcak (first place
and top team), Michael
Cinardo (second place),
Peter Weremijenko (top
out-of-county), and Mar-
co Bruno (third place)
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ OCTOBER 2017 67