1 - San Francisco Police Officers Association
1 - San Francisco Police Officers Association
1 - San Francisco Police Officers Association
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Page 14<br />
Realistic Scenario<br />
Officer Involved Shooting<br />
By Rowena Wilson,<br />
Ingleside Station<br />
Have you ever wondered what you<br />
would do if you were involved in a<br />
shooting? How you would react? How<br />
you would feel? Afterwards, who you<br />
would talk to? Would you wait for a<br />
lawyer before you speak to anyone,<br />
including your Sergeant? I was faced<br />
with these questions during an innovative<br />
training class at the SFPD<br />
Academy called "Officer Involved<br />
Shooting".<br />
The date was January 24, 1998.<br />
When I arrived at the academy I<br />
was met by Sergeant Jerry D'Elia<br />
(Co. G) and Officer Frank McKee<br />
(Academy). They both had<br />
mischevious looks on their faces, as<br />
if telling us, "You're in for a big surprise".<br />
The class was comprised of seven<br />
students (or guinea pigs, as we called<br />
ourselves). We spent the first half of<br />
the day reviewing material such as<br />
report writing for Use of Force, legal<br />
aspects, and the phases of restraint.<br />
Then, it was off to the gym where<br />
we reviewed two handcuffing techniques:<br />
Standing (inside, outside,<br />
twist arm grip?) and Prone (get down<br />
on the ground, arms at your side like<br />
an airplane, palms up... remember?)<br />
Throughout this entire time we<br />
tried every way we could possibly<br />
think of to get a little piece of information<br />
about what was going to happen,<br />
almost to the point ofa2ll.We<br />
were answered each time with a grin<br />
and a "you'll see". We knew it had to<br />
do with a shooting scenario but it<br />
was going to be expanded somehow,<br />
- our pulse rates were going to be<br />
increased (how?) and why did we<br />
have to be in full uniform - vest,<br />
baton and gun?. I was anxious and<br />
felt I was going to explode. The uncertainty<br />
was killing me.<br />
After lunch, I was told I was the<br />
second person in line to go. I was<br />
slightly relieved that I was going to<br />
get it over with and not be the last.<br />
(That was an officer from the Airport.)<br />
We were all kicked out of our<br />
classroom and sent to another room<br />
to watch TV. This would represent<br />
our "down time" we experience during<br />
our regular day.<br />
At this point, I could feel my heartbeat<br />
in my throat, bats were flying in<br />
A woman appeared out of nowhere and<br />
was in my face, screaming, "What are<br />
you doing with my husband?". I thought<br />
to myself, "I don't have time for this"<br />
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my stomach and my hands were icy<br />
cold. Suddenly, it was my turn.<br />
Sgt. D'Elia told me I was going to<br />
get into a radio car, which was parked<br />
outside, and drive around the parking<br />
lot one time. I was going to respond<br />
to a 10-25 of plainclothes officer<br />
holding a suspect at gunpoint,<br />
on the 2nd floor of the academy. I<br />
entered the car, took a deep breath<br />
and thought, 'This is it".<br />
A diversion designed to "pump up"<br />
the officer.<br />
Notebook<br />
.*6TAVERN<br />
I drove once around the<br />
parking lot and parked the<br />
car. I exited the car and ran<br />
up the back stairs to the<br />
2nd floor of the academy. At<br />
the end of the hallway, I saw<br />
the plainclothes officer (Tom<br />
Cunnane), holding a "suspect"<br />
(KirkTomioka), proned<br />
on the floor, at gunpoint.<br />
Tom told me he was going to<br />
cover me while I handcuff<br />
the suspect. As I approached<br />
the suspect, a woman (Lyn<br />
Fa'Ajata), appeared out of<br />
nowhere and was in my face,<br />
screaming, "What are you<br />
doing with my husband?" I<br />
thought to myself, "I don't<br />
have time for this" and<br />
locked her out of the hallway.<br />
Now, where was I? Oh<br />
yeah, I have to handcuff the<br />
suspect. After I did that, I was whisked<br />
off to the F.A.T.S. room. This is where<br />
the fun starts.<br />
For those of you who don't know<br />
what F.A.T.S is let me briefly explain.<br />
F.A.T.S. stands for Firearms Training<br />
System. It was originally designed<br />
by a race car driver, Jody<br />
Schecter, to be a highly<br />
advanced race car simulator.<br />
Instead, it evolved<br />
to a laser shooting system.<br />
The majority of you<br />
already know what<br />
F.A.T.S. 2 i like. It'sbasically<br />
a shoot/don't shoot<br />
scenario. You participate<br />
in the same scenario from<br />
start to finish. There's a<br />
screen in front of you to<br />
watch the scenario and<br />
you're holding a 40 cal<br />
department issued<br />
Beretta I remember going<br />
through this F.A.T.S. ...<br />
2 system in the academy<br />
and thinking this was really<br />
high tech stuff but<br />
F.A.T.S. 3, blows it away.<br />
F.A.T.S. 3 is still a laser<br />
shooting system. When<br />
the trigger is pulled on<br />
the .40 caliber Beretta, it<br />
projects a small light to<br />
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Wilson experiences the worst: an officer<br />
involved shooting.<br />
•<br />
February 1998<br />
the screen which the computer follows.<br />
You can also replay the screen<br />
to show the movements of the gun<br />
barrel from the time you take the gun<br />
out of the holster to the time you pull -<br />
the trigger. What makes this machine<br />
awesome is the fact that the<br />
Homicide investigator (Lt. Ramlan) queries the<br />
officer.<br />
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