WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 67
draw from your holster and fire two or three rounds, then scan and
move as much as you can in a port. At a public range you may not
be able to turn off or dim the lights, but you still can shoot while
holding a flashlight.
Remember, there is no rush to return your firearm to your holster.
A drill you can do with a partner is to use a target with circles with
numbers on them, or just draw them yourself. The shooting officer
waits in the low ready position or drawing the holster scanning the
target. The partner will call out a number and the officer must shoot
two rounds at that circle. This drill incorporates decision-making,
speed and accuracy. This drill can be done with anyone calling out
the numbers. Spouses and kids work great. With this drill, quality
training can be done with minimal rounds.
A few of the least expensive training skills are reloading (try one
handed reloading as well) and malfunction drills. These can be
done on duty with dummy rounds. Officers should practice these
drills will all firearms issued or available to them.
The use of a digital simulator is also an inexpensive way to train.
With hundreds of possible scenarios to choose from, the digital simulator can offer realistic training and instant assessment. The digital
simulator will display how many shots were fired, where each shot
went, time between shots, etc. If a few officers use the digital simulator together, that also reduces the cost.
Like exercising and dieting, small changes over time can make big
transformations. The first step is to make the decision to commit to
training. The next step is to start now. The life you save because of
your training may be your own. d
Jan Wright is the Director of Training at RTSP in Randolph, a retired
chief of the Hamburg Police Department with 25 years of service and
a retired member of PBA Local 138.
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MARCH 2015