THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506180045
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
Ricky Williams showed up at the Saturday shootout with his trusty competitors arrived with considerably more firepower.
Williams, a Richmond deputy, was the only one of the region's police sharpshooters to brave the three-station competition course the old-fashioned way - with a lot of reloading.
``It hindered my performance a little,'' said Williams, 25. ``Sometimes if I missed one shot, I'd have to reload. It put me a little behind.''
The rest of the field toted an array of high-capacity Glocks, Berettas and Smith & Wessons for the police department's first - and, organizers hope, annual - police pistol competition.
More than 5,000 bullets shredded paper targets and pinged metal ones, as competitors representing departments from across the state massed at the Creeds-area target range.
When the smoke cleared, Norfolk Police Department pistol-team member Bob Douros was named top gun.
``Without a doubt, I enjoy this kind of stuff,'' said Douros, a K-9 officer. ``I love to shoot. It's fun, but it's also serious.''
It can be deadly serious.
Although most officers will never fire a weapon except at a target range, the number of law-enforcement shootouts has been steadily rising.
In 1993, the last year for which national statistics are available, police shot to death 451 felons - up 25 percent from five years earlier. Also in 1993, 98 law-enforcement officers were slain on duty.
In a typical police shooting, an officer will hit his or her target less than 20 percent of the time, national statistics show.
Capt. Ernest Baker, the range's commanding officer, said the police department hosted the competition, in part, to encourage more officers to practice at the facility.
Opening the facility to other departments Saturday was a way to share information and enjoy friendly competition, Baker said.
The competition - at times intense and at times nearly comical - was measured in inches and in seconds, testing each officer's reflexes and skills.
Baker either underestimated his ammo supply or overestimated his proficiency, and he ran out of rounds before he finished one course. Another officer on the same course fired only four bullets for four targets, in four seconds.
The competition was divided into three parts: a standard target shoot, a rapid-fire target shoot, and an obstacle course - called the Rescue Run - where shooters gun for bad guys and spare the good guys.
All officers competed individually, and some combined scores with one or more partners in team competitions.
For Chesapeake Officer James G. Thomas, it was his first contest.
``I got the letter a few weeks ago, and the guys talked me into going,'' said Thomas, who, with a partner, took third-place honors in the two-person competition. ``The Rescue Run was the toughest part. You've got to concentrate, run, shoot, and the time factor is always against you.''
In that event, shooters darted from barricade to barricade, blasting metal silhouettes of 10 simulated bad guys that stood within inches of the simulated good guys. Whacking a good guy was a 30-second penalty.
Winners were plied with three-foot-tall trophies and gift certificates from the event's numerous sponsors. Douros, the overall winner, was also given a Smith & Wesson .357-caliber Magnum revolver.
``I had a good time,'' he said. ``It's important to have some fun, or this can all go to your head.''
Williams, the revolver-toting deputy, didn't go away empty-handed. He finished second in the ``Novice'' class, a division created for shooters who enjoyed the course more than the contest.
Baker, the Virginia Beach police captain, finished third in that division. There were three entrants.
``I was fairly certain I had last place sewn up,'' Baker said. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
L. TODD SPENCER
Police officers representing law enforce- ment depart- ments from
across Virginia spent more than 5,000 bullets, shredded paper
targets and pinged metal ones Saturday when they came to the
Creeds-area firing range to see who would be the best overall
marksmen. At left, the tactical qualifications course is a 50-round
course shot from a distance of 7, 15 and 25 yards.
Charles K. Payne, a member of the Virginia Beach Sheriff's
Department, who took 3rd place in the four-person team, shoots at a
target in the rescue run - in which shooters aim to hit metal
silhouettes of 10 simulated bad guys standing within inches of
simulated good guys.
Graphic
WINNERS
INDIVIDUAL
First: Bob Douros, Norfolk Police Department
Second: Dan Lackey, Virginia Beach Police Department
Third: Chris Epperson, Virginia Beach Police Department
TWO-PERSON TEAM RESULTS
First: Bob Douros and Henry Scott, Norfolk Police Department.
Second: Andrew Engemann and Dennis Ganoe, state police
Third: James Thomas and Andy Powers, Chesapeake Police
Department
FOUR-PERSON TEAM RESULTS
First: Mark Tiedemann, Dan Lackey, John McLuckie and John Borman,
Virginia Beach Police Department
Second: Phillip Polk, John Atkisson, Quinton Gillus and Stephen
Poe, Chesterfield Police Department
Third: A.G. Slocum, Thomas Chadwick, Charles Payne and John
Oakey, Virginia Beach Sheriff's Department
by CNB