Lessons in use of deadly force

[tombogan03884]

http://www.citizen.com/news/2012-03-10/Front_Page/Lessons_in_use_of_deadly_force.html

LACONIA — In a unique program that is among the first of its kind in New Hampshire, the Huot Career and Technical Center and the Laconia Police Department have teamed up to give students an early taste of all things law enforcement, including on Friday the opportunity to understand the consequences of the use of deadly force.

Beginning in late January and running into June, the 16-week “Introduction to Law” class is being taught by recently retired Laconia Police Chief Mike Moyer who, while still in his post, had been approached in 2011 by Scott Davis of Huot Tech who proposed that they combine their skills and experiences to give students an opportunity to get a feel for what a police officer does, from the tedious to the terrifying and everything in between.

The students, 18 of them from the school districts that send students to Huot, meet five days a week and they have been mixing classroom instruction with field trips and exercises.

To date, the students have learned about drug abuse in America, domestic violence, the Belknap County Special Operations Unit, criminal and motor-vehicle law, the laws of arrest, and how to detect a drunk driver.

They studied self-defense tactics and learned about the county corrections system and how to survive edged weapons. They will later do background checks, crime scene processing, and accident investigations. They have met and will meet with representatives of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and they will culminate the class with a four-hour ride-along with a police officer.

Moyer is not sure that all of his students will end up in law enforcement — be it as a criminal defense attorney or prosecutor, a police officer, a crime scene investigator, or a corrections officer — but he is pretty confident that it will help to convince those who already are leaning that way — like Samantha Sullivan, a Belmont High School senior whose family is well-represented on local police forces — while helping other students understand that maybe fighting crime is not for them.

Chris Adams, who succeeded Moyer as chief last spring, said the Huot class represents “another opportunity to reach out to the community” in a non-traditional way.

Knowing that he wanted to be a police officer “since I was this tall,” Adams added, “If I were a kid at this age, I would have taken the course” because it will give those students who do go on to study criminal science or other law enforcement-related subjects in college a useful head start.

Sullivan agreed that the Huot law enforcement class is a major positive and that using the use-of-force simulator “was fun.”

Armed with a laser-activated “gun” and flashlight, Sullivan went through a traffic stop where she was forced to shoot a female motorist who drew a gun on her.

“This is pretty good; it helps you a lot,” Sullivan said of the bigger lesson she is learning from Moyer and active-duty Laconia police officers. “I’d definitely recommend this” to other students, she said, adding that, while she has enjoyed everything so far, “this,” — the use-offorce simulator — “is probably the best part.”

[rojawe]

Good Program and I would support one like that but the liberal teachers are teaching them they have to do nothing and the government will provide everything free

[kmitch200]

To date, the students have learned about drug abuse in America, domestic violence, the Belknap County Special Operations Unit, criminal and motor-vehicle law, the laws of arrest, and how to detect a drunk driver.

Next week they cover: "Your life has been a freaking train wreck for 30 years and you called the police to fix it in 10 minutes."