By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF 06/04/2012
HOLDEN – As a man on a screen started to pull out a gun in a classroom full of students, Becker College Police Officer Timothy Harris crisply shouted out orders.
“Keep your hands where I can see them!” the new officer for the college barked.
Within seconds, the gunman pointed his gun at the officers. Students scrambled.
The Becker officer fired several rounds at the man.
The scenario was played out last week inside Blue Line Corp.’s 48-foot mobile firearms training range. On the screen in front of the Becker College officers were a number of scenarios, some including incidents at college campuses.
After the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 and Virginia Tech in 2007, law enforcement and college police departments well know the importance of training for such events — even though the frequency is low.
The trailer used by the Sudbury-based company allows officers to learn verbal commands and decide when use of force might be needed.
“It’s probably the most realistic critical type of decision-making and shooting you can get,” Becker College Police Chief David J. Bousquet said last week as he worked with his officers inside the range.
The Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings brought nationwide attention to those types of situations. Parents and students should know that their college or university police and public safety departments are continually training, in case these types of situations ever arise, the chief said.
As Officer Harris went through a couple of the scenarios, Chief Bousquet patted him on the shoulder, reminding him of certain commands or actions. The scenarios force officers to make quick yet important decisions.
Holden police offered to have the trailer — which is soundproof, bulletproof and built by a Department of Defense contractor — at the station, so colleges and universities in the Worcester area could train.
Because a large contingent of the colleges and universities were involved in the training, the cost to have an officer use the range was $75 per officer, Holden Police Chief George R. Sherrill said. The Holden Police Department had its officers take the training, something it has done over the past five years.
In the chief’s 37 years on the department, he can’t recall a case where an officer had to shoot his firearm at a person. The trailer gives officers a chance to sharpen their skills, he said.
“It is so true to life. It’s as lifelike as possible,” Chief Sherrill said. “You have to prepare yourself for these low-frequency, high-risk situations.”
Not every scenario forces the officers undergoing training to fire their weapon. In some cases the officer can warn of the use of pepper spray, or some other type of less-lethal measure.
Holden police are a state-certified department — one of about 18 in the state — and have to investigate any time force is used. The department has pepper spray and is about to issue Tasers to some officers.
Inside the trailer, different conditions can be recreated, said Jerry Tilbor, operations manager for Blue Line.
With a flick of a few switches, Mr. Tilbor pushed back a paper target and the lights inside the trailer dimmed. Sirens and strobe lights mimicking a police cruiser filled the inside of the trailer.
Studies showed over 70 percent of police officer shootings occur in diminished lighting, Mr. Tilbor said.