The Richland County Sheriff’s Department convened at the Richland County Fairgrounds’ racetrack to practice vehicle pursuit operations last week. All law enforcement personnel were required to attend the eight-hour training session that included a review of policy and procedure and hands-on driving activity.
“It’s not just learning why and how we do things, but also physically going out and performing,” said Sgt. Jimmy Sweat, who has been with the sheriff’s department since 2005 and has led these yearly training sessions for approximately 10 years.
Some of the techniques the law enforcers practiced include channeling, boxing-in, and rolling road blocks, which are new to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s policy and procedure.
Channeling techniques can be used in a situation in which the officer wishes to steer the pursued toward another street, or the officer wants to steer civilian vehicles away from the area to avoid potential hazards on the roadway. In order to do this, the law enforcer must pull ahead of the pursued vehicle and steer his or her sheriff’s vehicle out in front toward the desired direction.
The boxing-in procedure can occur during low-speed pursuits in which the pursued doesn’t pull over, so two or more enforcement units align themselves in a box formation that allows them to stop the pursued from further travel. Once the box is formed, all enforcement vehicles slow, causing the violator in the box to slow as well.
Rolling road blocks involve the placement of one or more sheriff vehicles in the path of the violator’s vehicle in order to cause it to slow and/or stop.
The training sessions were split into three days so each and every law enforcer could participate.
Sweat expressed the significance of having everyone undergo the training regardless of one’s role at the sheriff’s department. “Even an unmarked,” said Sweat. (An unmarked refers to one who isn’t driving a sheriff vehicle.) “It wouldn’t be an ideal situation to have an unmarked in a pursuit, but it could happen. But obviously if it was a serious crime, and they were the first person to arrive at the scene, then they’re going to do whatever they have to do to ensure safety.”
Each of the car pursuit simulations were done at low speeds to mitigate the chances of damaging a vehicle. “We substitute intensity for speed,” said Sweat.
He added, “There’s a lot more that goes on than just the actual driving. The communication that they’re learning is another important part of the process.”
Maj. Dale Fortney commented, “I think [the law enforcers] are doing really well, and I think the training is well-received. Typically we train on the things that will incur the most liability and one of the top is driving.”
Sgt. Brad Henderson has participated in these training sessions for the past eight years. He mentioned, “The instruction was given very well and the practical application was done at a good learning speed. I would say every one of us, with the exception of the new guys, have been in pursuits and there’s a lot that goes into a pursuit…Having this where we’re training together will probably benefit the next pursuit that we have and we’ll be able to utilize these techniques and the training that we’ve gotten today.”
“There’s a lot more that goes on than just the actual driving. The communication that they’re learning is another important part of the process,” stated Sgt. Sweat.
