Officers qualify, practice with firearms
Bella Vista police officers, as well as some retired officers, qualified with weapons last week and fit in some practice as well.
FBI and Arkansas state firearms instructor Sgt. Eric Palmer oversaw rifle testing, as well as a drill, to show officers how to use a car as cover and work around it to return fire.
Testing was available for active and retired officers, he explained, and he expected to qualify between 40 and 50 people.
The department, he said, provides tests in the spring and fall, though the state only requires officers to qualify once per year. This, he said, helps officers stay sharp and allows officers to miss one of the testing sessions in a year if they have family business or some other more pressing concern.
“We don’t want to be glorified security guards,” he said. “We want to be proactive, professional police.”
While retired officers are not required to qualify, he said, passing an annual qualification test allows them to retain a license that can be carried across state lines and provides similar benefits to an enhanced concealed carry permit.
Palmer guided officers through the rifle course, which required them to put a total of 20 rounds downrange from 50, 25, 15 and seven yards. They had 90 seconds to complete the test, he said, and were required to put 80 percent of their shots on target. From the two farthest firing points, he said,
officers took two shots standing and three prone.
Cpl. Justin Green handled pistol qualifications, in which an officer fires 50 rounds from different positions — including two, one-handed and off-hand — from three, seven and 15 yards.
Officers are required to score an 80 percent, or 400 out of the possible 500 points, he explained. Each shot in the four-inch center of the target is worth 10 points, with one point docked for every ring further out.
“We obviously strive for the highest score possible,” he said. “We want to make sure, if we have to use it, we hit the target and nobody else.”
But outside of the required qualifying drills, Palmer said he tries to include a new drill with each qualifying session. It’s a good chance to build new skills and give officers something more interesting and engaging to work with than firing at normal paper targets, he said.
“I always try to do something that challenges them physically and mentally,” he said.
Previous drills, he said, have included a workout prior to shooting, firing at balloons and even shooting at hanging golf balls — a real challenge with a breeze.
This year, he said, Bentonville Towing donated a car and brought it to the range, which gave officers a chance to see how much — or how little — cover a vehicle might provide in a firefight and practice maneuvering and firing around one. Officers started in the driver’s seat, firing at one target before leaving the vehicle, shutting the door, and firing at additional targets from behind the rough old Hyundai.
The vehicle’s fluids were drained, Palmer said, to ensure they did not leak into the grass at the range.
Officers need to keep in mind that bullets can easily pass through cavities in a vehicle, like a trunk or doors, he said. By contrast, he said, more solid components, like the A, B and C pillars or the powertrain can provide more significant cover.
This is a good illustration, he explained, of the difference between concealment — when one is not visible — and cover — when one is behind something that can stop a bullet.
Using the engine as cover helps and, aside from that, the best practice is to stay low and at an angle to keep the vehicle’s pillars between the officer and the aggressor, Palmer said. This, he explained, maximizes the layers between an officer and a bullet.
Moreover, he said, officers need to keep moving. By staying behind the vehicle and changing position, he said, an officer can prevent himself from being an easy target. This also forces the aggressor to divide his attention, he explained, because if the officer is moving from spot to spot, the person they’re fighting now has to watch the entire car.
“You get pinned down in one spot, you’re dead,” Palmer said.
Officer Greg Haigh went through the qualification tests and this drill and stuck around to help out with the practice and testing process.
He didn’t have a hard time with any of it, he said, but it still provided valuable experience.
“It’s good training,” Haigh said. “Hope to do more of it soon.”