Law enforcers do exercises using FATS

By Brian McCauley, bmccauley@miconews.com

Miami County Sheriff’s Deputy John Snyder takes aim at a bomb-wielding woman during a video training session using the FATS system. (Photo by Brian McCauley)

Miami County Sheriff’s Deputy John Snyder’s right hand slowly moves toward his handgun as he attempts to calm down an infuriated motorcyclist that has just been pulled over.

“Sir, this is a simple traffic infraction,” Snyder states as he holds up his left hand signaling the man to stop his tirade of abusive comments.

The action only angers the man more as he raises his voice and continues to insult Snyder while ignoring the commands to back off.

Suddenly, the motorcyclist takes his aggression to the next level as he reaches across his bike and pulls out a handgun. He quickly raises it toward Snyder, but the sheriff’s deputy is ready, firing three shots into the man’s chest, incapacitating him.

Snyder notifies dispatch of the shots fired and the need for an ambulance before looking back at Sgt. Randy Cornelius, who is operating the fire arms training simulator or FATS.

“That’s aggravated stupidity,” Cornelius says of the motorcyclist that was shown in the training video projected onto the wall in the basement of the sheriff’s office in Paola on Monday.

Snyder nods and reloads his practice weapon, which is connected to a computer by a long cord.

“A little background on the next one, it’s a bomb threat, and it has to be a head shot,” Cornelius says. “And pretend Miami County has subways.”

Snyder looks back with a grin as a woman pops on the screen and frantically says there is a person with a bomb in the subway terminal. Another woman is shown holding the trigger to an explosive device and shouting threats. Before she is able to activate the device, Snyder unloads one round from his pistol, ending the danger.

Cornelius rewinds the video and plays it again, this time marking where the bullet hit — a perfect head shot.

The session continued for about 20 minutes, with Cornelius modifying the scenarios, not all of which required a weapon to be fired. Using a laptop, Cornelius can alter the situations and then discuss with the law enforcement officer about how it was handled afterward.

Miami County spent $4,000 to use the training simulator throughout the week, and several law enforcement agencies took advantage of the rare opportunity. The sheriff’s office used it Monday and Tuesday, Paola Police Department used it Wednesday, Osawatomie Police Department

used it Thursday and Louisburg Police Department is scheduled to use it today.

County counselor David Heger said the money was available to focus on risk management, and he is hoping the law enforcement officials enjoy the refresher course on firearms training. He also said purchasing the equipment was never an option, as it would cost about $85,000 with another $7,500 each year for maintenance.

Last year, the county helped pay for the different departments to train using a driving simulator.

Cornelius said the shooting training gives officers a glimpse at what it is like in a high-pressure situation.

“It makes them think,” he said. “We have to make decisions based on limited info. Everybody reacts differently.”

The system allows officers to train using two pistols, a shotgun and even a stun gun, depending on the situation. And the video suspects respond depending on where the shots are fired.

Despite the realism, Cornelius said there’s still a big difference between the video training and an actual emergency.

“In real life, there’s no redoes,” he said.