YOUNGSTOWN Shoot or not? Cops get training

New this year: Little orange balls simulate an officer being hit.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The lady on the motorcycle was no lady.
"Ma'am, get off the motorcycle," Patrolman John Prest ordered as he walked toward the leather-clad biker.
She ignored the order and launched into a steady stream of obscenities, keeping her back to Prest.
"Ma'am! Get off the motorcycle!" Prest commanded.
The biker, still with her back to Prest, ripped off her leather gloves and threw them to the street. Her verbal attacks on the officer escalated.
Then she swiveled to her left on the bike, toward him.
Prest drew his gun from its holster, aimed and fired -- just as the angry biker fired at him.
The videotape stopped on the FATS (Firearms Training System) machine and Prest holstered his gun. He turned to look at the training officers behind him.
"Good judgment," said Capt. Kenneth Centorame, FATS operator, and Lt. David McKnight.
Once police decide to use deadly force, they shoot to kill, not wound, the officers said.
The goal is to have all 197 Youngstown Police Department officers train on FATS this month, as well as Youngstown State University campus police and Mill Creek MetroParks police, said Lt. Robin Lees, YPD spokesman. FATS is set up at the YPD training site on Mahoning Avenue.
Features
FATS, which rents for $5,000 a month, features a gigantic screen, video narrator and real-life full-size scenarios that range from traffic stops and vehicle pursuits to domestic violence encounters and house searches. The FATS operator reviews officers' actions after each scenario.
Police first review the deadly force policy then train on FATS, typically going through three scenarios, Lees said. It's all about exercising good judgment, he said.
"If verbal commands or Mace [aerosol tear gas] works to bring suspects into compliance, fine," Lees said. "If not, we want them proficient with their weapon."
It's not a test, there are no grades, just coaching and critiques.
New this year are tiny orange pellets (that represent the bad guy's shots) directed by the FATS operator at the officers. The balls travel at 170 mph and sting.
The video gun used is a 15-shot Sig Sauer 9mm altered to give it a realistic recoil when fired. The gun is a "sister" to the 12-shot Sig Sauer .40 caliber YPD officers carry, Lees said.
As part of a real-life video scenario, the gun can jam.
More peril
After shooting the angry and homicidal biker, Prest entered a two-story house with peril at every turn.
A gunman at the top of the stairs ignored Prest's commands and fired.
A man with a knife charged at the officer in the living room. Prest shot him.
In the bedroom, Prest came face to face with a lifesize cutout of the late actor John Wayne on the wall, pointing a six-shooter. To the right of the movie cowboy, a man sprang into view -- with his hands up.
Prest didn't shoot.
A millisecond later, to the left, a woman leaped from the floor behind a bed and opened fire on the officer. He returned fire.
Talk about stress.
For each simulated situation, Centorame and McKnight determined Prest used good judgment. He fired when deadly force was required.
Good thing he didn't shoot John Wayne, the training officers teased as Prest exchanged the video gun for his own firearm.
meade@vindy.com