Police officers of Naples need to know how to shoot their weapons in the dark

Smoke slowly drove between different life -sized human silhouettes, red and blue lights are constantly flashing against the floating white papers.

Uniformed officers, armed surrounded by darkness, shots round after round. The pony that every trigger-pull followed, echoed of the concrete walls of the Alamo.

Once a year, the Naples police require that its officers participate in the Firearms Qualification course.

The newest addition to the course is the implementation of nightly sights.

Although firearm training in circumstances with little light is for the gun qualification of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement gun, the police of Naples prioritize extensive training initiatives to ensure that officers are prepared for every situation, Lt. Bryan McGinn from the Naples police.

While qualifications take place once a year, police officers from Naples shoot their firearms 3-4 times a year in training, depending on the schemes and budgeting.

McGinn said that the Naples police exceed the state requirements for firewap center training by around 200%, which is a percentage that does not take into account training that officers follow their own time with external agencies.

“We train for all dangers, all situations. Although our crime figures are low and we have relatively few violent crime, things happen, “said McGinn.

“We want to ensure that we train for the unknown. Our officers are comfortable and trained for whatever call they can get. '

In the past five years, the police of Naples have zero officer-released shootings, but preparedness is still an important concern.

With less than 11 hours of daylight, officers have to adjust their skills to work just as effectively in darkness as in daylight.

Every Monday last month, the police officers of Naples trained in a simulated low light environment on the Alamo Range on Vanderbilt Beach Road in Naples.

The training takes place in blocks of two hours with three to four officers at the same time. All 76 sworn officers must participate.

The biggest challenge officials are confronted when training conditions with little light, recreating a real-life environment.

McGinn said that the Naples police are grateful for the partnership that has with the Alamo because officers have the opportunity to use an ultramodern facility where they can simulate real sensory circumstances.

On such a Monday, firearm instructors Lt. Seth Finman, Sgt. Michael Harmeling and officer Jacob Christienson led three officers through firewapentraining with the help of the night visors that the Naples police have purchased and implemented in the use of last year.

Night cases are aids that can be confirmed on firearms to improve the visibility of target points in low light conditions. They are attached to guns and glow in a way that makes it easier to visualize with the “sights” of Gun, who are small parts on a gun that help a shooter to stand in line accurately and on a target strive.

According to the updated Florida Department of Law Enforcement Pistol Qualification requirements, Lt. McGinn, Sgt. Benjamin Vasquez and master officer Rey Reyes have to shoot 38 rounds, 33 of which must hit the goal of passing.

Firearms instructors must hit the target for 36 from the 38 rounds.

The updated training guides officers due to different circumstances. They have to practice shooting at their goals from different positions and distances.

Starting a meter from the target and gradually back to the 15-Yard line, and stepped left or right of the middle target, officers continuously shot holes through the paper silhouettes with great accuracy.

McGinn said that officers should not only know how to shoot both hands on the gun, but also with one hand with dominant and non-dominant hands, in the event of circumstances such as stopping an injury.

When selecting nocturnal sights, the police of Naples had his firearm instructors, who are 'expert experts', research and determine which specialized industrial standards should use officers, McGinn said.

McGinn said that the feedback officers gave when using and training with the new nightvizers, overwhelmingly positive.

In addition to the new Glock 45 guns that the department purchased last year, police officers in Naples will train with nocturnal sights with guns during this year when approaching their rifle qualification exam, another FDLE -Reis.

'You don't know what you don't know. There are many unknown variables that exist. It is really more to expose our officers as much as possible in the training environment, “said McGinn.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Police Officers van Naples Practice in the dark shooting with nocturnal sights