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Officers try floating target practice
By Larry Hobbs, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 25, 2003
The human cutout targets at the sheriff's gun range stood 60 yards away over open ground, normally an easy hit for a veteran lawman like Chris Sella.
Normally, however, the state fish and wildlife lieutenant shoots targets on solid ground. This time, he took aim crouched in the bow of a Boston Whaler floating off the canal bank, its hull rocking in its own wake, the stern idling clockwise, sirens blaring in his ears.
The M4 Bushmaster assault rifle let out a series of loud cracks, but only one of four rounds hit the target. The others thwacked into the embankment beyond, spitting up tall plumes of dirt.
"It puts a lot of additional pressure on you," Sella said after completing the marine firearms course at the range at 20-Mile Bend Friday. "But I feel all right with it. The boat moves on you. On the water, you've got waves, motions."
And Sella was hardly the only officer to shoot below.500 during the special training program for marine law enforcement officers from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the Boca Raton Police Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"My boat-handling was fine, my shooting needs practice," deputy Martin Hopper conceded after his turn on the course.
But this was more than an exercise in humility for the officers. The state agency and the sheriff's office developed the program this year after recognizing that a shootout on the water presents unique challenges, said fish and wildlife Capt. Lee Beach.
When trying to draw a bead on a "bad guy" from a boat, an officer needs to take into account everything from waves to wind to water currents before pulling the trigger. The officer also needs to consider the scarcity of cover from incoming fire and the fact that boats do not maneuver with the exactness of a patrol car, Beach said.
"It's an additional challenge for an officer to shoot from a moving boat with those elements working against you, even for a senior officer," Beach said. "It enhances the adrenaline, setting the boat to take out threats and then adjusting to acquire the target."
The course recognizes that the state agency's job no longer is limited to catching poachers and checking fishing licenses, Beach said. Officers are now trained and prepared to assist with anything from catching drug smugglers to ensuring homeland security.
Like the 20 other officers participating, this was Sella's first time on the course.
After firing the M4, Sella sped the 20-foot boat around some bends in the canal that led to a series of pistol targets. From inside the rocking boat, he plinked the targets seven times in 12 shots from his Glock handgun. Next, he was blasting away at a new target with a 12-gauge shotgun, making good on half of four shots.
"It's good training," said Sella, 31. "If we do have to shoot from a boat, we have an idea of what it's going to be like, instead of just shooting blind."
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The boat would have been about 75 meters away from the targets.
A canal runs right behind the 50-meter range.
"Around some bends of the canal", this is clearly off the gun range property and put local traffic as risk. The only berm would have been the low canal bank.
Shooting from a boat is very difficult and dangerous to anyone around who is not the intended target. Take into consideration the ricochet factor off the water and this type of shooting is negligent.
By Larry Hobbs, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 25, 2003
The human cutout targets at the sheriff's gun range stood 60 yards away over open ground, normally an easy hit for a veteran lawman like Chris Sella.
Normally, however, the state fish and wildlife lieutenant shoots targets on solid ground. This time, he took aim crouched in the bow of a Boston Whaler floating off the canal bank, its hull rocking in its own wake, the stern idling clockwise, sirens blaring in his ears.
The M4 Bushmaster assault rifle let out a series of loud cracks, but only one of four rounds hit the target. The others thwacked into the embankment beyond, spitting up tall plumes of dirt.
"It puts a lot of additional pressure on you," Sella said after completing the marine firearms course at the range at 20-Mile Bend Friday. "But I feel all right with it. The boat moves on you. On the water, you've got waves, motions."
And Sella was hardly the only officer to shoot below.500 during the special training program for marine law enforcement officers from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the Boca Raton Police Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"My boat-handling was fine, my shooting needs practice," deputy Martin Hopper conceded after his turn on the course.
But this was more than an exercise in humility for the officers. The state agency and the sheriff's office developed the program this year after recognizing that a shootout on the water presents unique challenges, said fish and wildlife Capt. Lee Beach.
When trying to draw a bead on a "bad guy" from a boat, an officer needs to take into account everything from waves to wind to water currents before pulling the trigger. The officer also needs to consider the scarcity of cover from incoming fire and the fact that boats do not maneuver with the exactness of a patrol car, Beach said.
"It's an additional challenge for an officer to shoot from a moving boat with those elements working against you, even for a senior officer," Beach said. "It enhances the adrenaline, setting the boat to take out threats and then adjusting to acquire the target."
The course recognizes that the state agency's job no longer is limited to catching poachers and checking fishing licenses, Beach said. Officers are now trained and prepared to assist with anything from catching drug smugglers to ensuring homeland security.
Like the 20 other officers participating, this was Sella's first time on the course.
After firing the M4, Sella sped the 20-foot boat around some bends in the canal that led to a series of pistol targets. From inside the rocking boat, he plinked the targets seven times in 12 shots from his Glock handgun. Next, he was blasting away at a new target with a 12-gauge shotgun, making good on half of four shots.
"It's good training," said Sella, 31. "If we do have to shoot from a boat, we have an idea of what it's going to be like, instead of just shooting blind."
[email protected]
The boat would have been about 75 meters away from the targets.
A canal runs right behind the 50-meter range.
"Around some bends of the canal", this is clearly off the gun range property and put local traffic as risk. The only berm would have been the low canal bank.
Shooting from a boat is very difficult and dangerous to anyone around who is not the intended target. Take into consideration the ricochet factor off the water and this type of shooting is negligent.
With a good high backstop, there's no reason why it can't be done safely.
