MONTICELLO – In a real life situation, a police officer is not shooting at a non-moving black silhouette.  In reality, an officer may have a split second to decide whether to use deadly force, or not.

The Sullivan County Sheriff Office firing range now has three remote-controlled rotating targets.

Detective Ed Simon, the chief firearms instructor, says this fine-tunes an officer’s ability to make that quick and critical decision.

“This is going to make the officer become more proficient and more professional in his duties, so he’s aware or she’s aware of what is going to happen on the street and able to act accordingly to resolve the situation, either by the use of deadly physical force, or by the use of a less than lethal option.”

The rotating targets can display a clearly threatening character, or an innocent bystander. 

Cpl. Michael Schneider does the drill

Simon explains the system

A $2,100 grant from the National Rifle Association helped pay for the system. 

Sullivan County Friends of NRA Chairman Michal Gagliardi said this goes beyond just helping the Sheriff’s office/

“It’s for the community.  They have a terrible job and they are under a lot of pressure, and if an officer makes a mistake and an innocent bystander … that’s a tragedy, but with training and practice, they become more proficient and they are ready and they can handle the situations better.”

The Friends holds fundraisers throughout the year, and submits an application to the NRA for the specific funding.

“I can’t say enough about the NRA”, said Sheriff Michael Schiff.  “They have been an outstanding partner with law enforcement.”