Naples police officers must know how to shoot their guns in darkness

Smoke slowly drifted among several life-size human silhouettes, red and blue lights flashing continuously against the hovering white papers.

Uniformed officers, armed surrounded by darkness, shot round after round. The bangs that followed each trigger-pull echoed off the concrete walls of the Alamo.

Once a year, the Naples Police Department requires its officers to participate in the firearms qualification course.

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

Although firearms training in low-light conditions is not a requirement for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s pistol qualification, the Naples Police Department prioritizes extensive training initiatives to ensure officers are prepared for any situation, Lt. Bryan McGinn of the Naples Police Department said.

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

McGinn said that the Naples Police Department exceeds state requirements for firearms training by about 200%, which is a percentage that doesn’t account for training that officers take on their own time with outside agencies.

“We train for all hazards, all situations. Although our crime rates are low and we have relatively very little violent crime, things happen,” McGinn said.

“We want to make sure that we train for the unknown. Our officers are comfortable and trained for whatever call they may get.”

In the last five years, the Naples Police Department has had zero officer-involved shootings, but preparedness is still a key concern.

With fewer than 11 hours of daylight, officers must adapt their skills to operate just as effectively in darkness as they do in daylight.

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

The training occurs in two-hour blocks with three to four officers at a time. All 76 sworn officers are required to participate.

The biggest challenge officers face when training in low-light conditions is recreating a real-life environment.

McGinn said the Naples Police Department is thankful for the partnership it has with the Alamo because officers have the opportunity to utilize a state-of-the-art facility where they can simulate real-life sensory conditions.

On one such Monday, firearms instructors Lt. Seth Finman, Sgt. Michael Harmeling and Officer Jacob Christienson led three officers through firearms training using the night sights that the Naples Police Department purchased and implemented into use just last year.

Night sights are tools that can be fixed onto firearms to enhance visibility of aiming points in low-light conditions. They are fixed onto guns and glow in a way that makes it easier to visualize with gun’s “sights”, which are small parts on a gun that help a shooter to accurately line up and aim at a target.

Per the updated Florida Department of Law Enforcement pistol qualification requirements, Lt. McGinn, Sgt. Benjamin Vasquez and Master Officer Rey Reyes are required to shoot 38 rounds, 33 of which must hit the target to pass.

Firearms instructors must hit the target for 36 out of the 38 rounds shot.

The updated training guides officers through various circumstances. They must practice shooting at their targets from various positions and distances.

Starting one yard from the target and gradually moving back to the 15-yard line, and stepping left or right from center-target, officers continually shot holes through the paper silhouettes with great accuracy.

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

When selecting night sights, the Naples Police Department had its firearms instructors, who are “subject-matter experts,” research and determine which specialized industry standard products officers should use, McGinn said.

McGinn said that the feedback officers have provided upon using and training with the new night sights has been overwhelmingly positive.

In addition to the new Glock 45 pistols that the department bought last year, Naples police officers will train with night sights using rifles during this year as they approach their rifle qualification exam, another FDLE requirement.

“You don’t know what you don’t know. There’s a lot of unknown variables out there. It’s really more toward exposing our officers to as much as possible in the training environment,” McGinn said.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples police officers practice shooting in the dark with night sights