The Newberg-Dundee Police Department firearms team is made up of six specially trained officers, proficient in firearms usage and instructional methods.  These officers instruct the department’s sworn personnel in firearms skills and techniques, preparing for potential life-threatening encounters. They do this by replicating real life scenarios officers are likely to encounter, in a safe environment.   During firearms training, team members go to great lengths to make range safety of paramount priority.

 

The Newberg-Dundee Police Department primarily uses three weapons. These are the Glock .45 cal. or 9 mm handgun as a sidearm, the AR-15 patrol rifle, and the 40mm Kinetic Energy Projectile Launcher. 

 

In addition to their skills as firearms instructors, four of the team members are Glock armorers. These team members can completely inspect and repair any of the Glock duty weapons carried by an officer. Additionally, four members are AR-15 patrol rifle armorers. These team members can completely inspect and repair our patrol rifles. Having armorers on site for these various weapons not only increases the weapons reliability, but dramatically decreases any down time if a weapon were to break or malfunction.

 

The firearms team has developed a schedule of inspection for its weapons. All department Glock duty weapons are inspected annually for wear and potential malfunction problems.  The AR-15 patrol rifles are inspected and cleaned  on a monthly basis. 

 

Every sworn police officer attends four firearms training sessions a year. One of these is a night fire to give officers an opportunity to experience firearms scenarios in no, or limited light situations. This is obviously important,as many officer involved shootings occur in diminished light. This provides officers opportunity to work on their firearms accuracy in low light conditions. Additionally, low light shooting scenarios allows for the officer to build firearms safety skills while maneuvering with a flashlight, giving commands, reloading the firearm, moving, etc.

 

Firearms proficiency does not just entail shooting accuracy. It also very importantly includes decision making as to when to shoot or not shoot, determining appropriate force options, and practicing the ability of reloading the firearm under stress conditions. To that end, the firearms team has developed a ‘Simunitions” training program that continues to evolve. The “Simunitions” training program puts officers into simulated confrontations where the officer has available to him or her all of the various force options they do while on duty; pepper spray, baton, taser and firearm. The officer must then decide which option(s) is the most appropriate in a sometimes ever changing scenario. If the training scenario leads to an officer involved shooting, “Simuntions” allows the officer and instructor to see where the officer shot, thereby being able to determine accuracy under stress conditions, as well as honing decision making skills.