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Many years ago, I worked for a great lieutenant, Chuck Smith. Several quotes were attributed to him locally. One of my favorites involved attending training. Chuck said, “Go to every class you can, but don’t go to class, go to the bar, that’s where the real cops are. Talk to them, you’ll learn something.”
That’s not exactly accurate anymore, but his premise isn’t that far off – if you look at it from the perspective of interacting with your peers, talking to others who are doing or have done the job. The shared nuggets can have a lasting impact on your calls and cases.
There is a tremendous variety of law enforcement-centric associations and conferences that provide environments where you can listen to and discuss the profession with others. One of those is the Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor Association’s yearly conference.
Modern Samurai Project taught four sessions on red dot pistols (PC – WSLEFIA).
This year, WSLEFIA invited me to participate in their conference in the Tri-City area of south-east Washington. It’s a four-day event open to current and former law enforcement firearms instructors.
Tuesday
The event began on Tuesday morning at the host hotel. For those who could arrive early, two armorer classes were taught in the morning.
Smith & Wesson had one session. It focused on their M&P 2.0 line of pistols.
Zev had the other bloc. While Zev pistols share some commonalities with the very well-known Glock design, they have their own specific considerations. Recently, Zev has been associated with both the Washington Department of Corrections and a federal entity responsible for transporting and securing nuclear material.
All the discussion in these classes was positive.
Zev helped support WSLEFIA by donating a pistol to the raffle (PC – WSLEFIA).
They originally planned for retired Alaska State Trooper Jeff Hall to give his presentation on ending the fight. Hall was unable to make it. As a result, they scraped the bottom of the barrel. They asked me to give my Ready Positions and Better Outcomes presentation. It examines research on visual input and the decision-making process involving deadly force.
They concluded the day with their annual meeting.
Mike Hughes, NextLevelTraining, covered performance shooting (PC – WSLEFIA).
Wednesday Only
On Wednesday morning, we shifted to the relatively close-by Rattlesnake Mountain range complex. There were several sessions in both the morning and the afternoon. Two subjects were only covered that first day.
One session involved the state’s Criminal Justice Training Center, also known as the Basic Law Enforcement Academy. In response to repeated concerns about what was taught there and why, academy faculty attended the conference. In addition to being able to cover their material, they were also able to hear directly from agency instructors about their concerns and the whys behind them.
Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (LEOSA) qualification courses of fire were also run that day for those in need of them.
One session of revisiting the shotgun for law enforcement use.
Wednesday and Thursday Sessions
In addition to those sessions, there were four other presenters.
Scott Jedlinski (Modern Samurai Project) covered his material as it relates to pistol-mounted optics. Scott regularly teaches both open-enrollment and L/E-only classes, so he has a solid lesson plan for the conference attendees.
Mike Hughes from Next Level Training was also present. He covered the subject of performance shooting via a combination of NextLevelTraining SIRT pistols (laser-projecting, dry-fire practice guns) and live-fire exercises.
Scott and Mike taught their sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.
Scott Jedlinski working on one student’s grip (PC – WSLEFIA).
Two Other Instructors
On Thursday and Friday, Gary Drake, a Washington state police officer, presented his material, discussing his perspective on defensive shooting concepts. Although I was unable to attend any of his sessions, those who did were quite complimentary of them. What I heard indicated that Gary is quite interested in the overlap of one’s hands-on and shooting skills.
One of several companies that supported the conference – DTS LLC donated this case (PC – WSLEFIA).
I presented two different live-fire blocks. On all three mornings, I taught a session called ‘Low Light in Daylight.’ Starting with discussions on case law, environmental considerations, human factors, and lighting conditions, it continues into live fire. The shooting portion utilizes reflective tape on the target stands and targets to support a variety of handheld and weapon-mounted lighting setups.
Wednesday and Thursday afternoons were spent re-visiting the shotgun and its continued applicability for law enforcement. The emphasis was on manipulations that would allow shooters to become more comfortable with the gun after years of the profession getting farther away from it.
Friday
Along with Drake’s and my final classes, Friday morning featured a 3-Gun match for the attendees. We should encourage more involvement in competitions to help solidify officers’ skills and abilities under stress.
Low Light in the Daylight. How to make it work? I’ve added 3M reflective tape to the target stand and the target itself. The tape allows practice repetitions on the techniques.
Final Thought
Lt Chuck was spot-on in principle when he told me to go to the bar as a young deputy. These days, it isn’t the bar, but any event where we can interact with both our peers and those more experienced than us. Listen to them, pick their brains, catch the nuggets you may not get any other way. It might save you or one of your students.
Next year’s conference will take place from April 14 to 17 in Richland, WA.
