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POPLAR GROVE — "You guys ready to bust some caps?"
Participants in the Salt Lake Police Department's Saturday answered by raising modified semi-automatic rifles and taking aim at paper targets dangling in the Pioneer Precinct's shooting range.
"Oh, cool," shouted Jennifer Anderson, a process server from Murray, as her shots grouped nearly pefectly on the head and chest areas of the body outlined on the target.
She clapped her hands as SWAT team officer Andy Leonard presented her with the bullet-hole ridden paper as a souvenir of the three days of seminars intended to help residents better understand police work.
"I'm so excited," Anderson said gleefully. "I'm going to hang it up in my house so my husband can see. Don't mess with me!"
While she said the opportunity to fire a weapon was the highlight of the academy, Anderson stressed she's also taking away a new appreciation for how much work goes into being a police officer.
So is Beth Arnett, a nurse who participates in her Federal Heights neighborhood watch program.
"I took him down," Arnett said, proudly displaying her results from the shooting range. "I was surprised at how effective it was, how easy it was, how lethal it could be."
She said it made her think about how much training police officers have to go through to make the right call when using their weapons in high-stress situations.
I was surprised at how effective it was, how easy it was, how lethal it could be.
–- Beth Arnett
The academy, Arnett said, has helped her see "just more and more, that police officers are human beings. It's a job, just like we all have jobs."
That's the goal of the free program, said Lara Jones, the police department's media director. "It really helps to demystify police work."
The more than a dozen participants got an up-close look at the gear used by the SWAT team, including a weapon that fires foam-tipped shells and gas canisters.
"Less than lethal," SWAT officer Aaron Broomhead said, tapping the 40mm launcher, described as a psychological tool in the special weapons and tactics squad's arsenal. "It takes the fight right out of them."
The department's canine unit showed off their skills for the group. Apollo, a drug-sniffing dog, quickly retrieved hidden packages for his handler, Sgt. Eddie Cameron.
Asked if Apollo, known as "aggressive indicator" because he bites, barks and scratches when he finds what he's after, had ever destroyed evidence, Cameron admitted that the dog had to be hospitalized because he ate cocaine.
"It was kind of embarrassing," he said.
Cameron put on a specially padded sleeve for a demonstration by another police dog, Otto. Responding to German commands, the dog ripped into the protected arm.
After demonstrating the dog's fierce response in several different situations, Cameron let Otto slide the sleeve off his arm. The dog then paraded around the auditorium with the sleeve in his mouth, wagging his tail.
Otto's audience, who had been warned to stay very still if he approached, smiled appreciatively.
There was also the opportunity to try out a radar gun on 700 South, as a traffic officer drove by in an unmarked car.
"He was speeding," Arnett said. "We got 38!"
Newly elected Salt Lake City Councilman Kyle LaMalfa, who said he joined the group to learn more about police do their job, appeared to enjoy wielding the radar gun.
"C'mon," he urged his girlfriend, who initially hesitated to take a turn. "Blast this!"
Email:lroche@ksl.com
