Riley County commissioners approved the bid from TRS Range Services for the new Riley County Police Department firing range Thursday.
Before the commission approved the current $1.43 million bid, they wanted to know why the range would have multiple lanes. During their previous meeting, Commissioner Ron Wells asked if they can consolidate to save money.
RCPD Lt. Brad Jager says the current range has three lanes they use all at one time. When officers are out at the range, they are training all day. One range could be used for certification and another for decision making scenarios. The goal is to get as many officers trained in a timely manner.
“I really do think this range was designed to be practical and not excessive. It’s really what we need to do to provide as training and having these two ranges is essential to be able to do that,” says Jager.
RCPD Director Dennis Butler then spoke saying police training has evolved over the years, hence the need for the lanes. One of the lanes will have a real life scenario range where they can modify each scenario. For example, the moving targets can be labeled as either civilians or threats. Officers will not know which target is which until they begin training.
Butler says officers will only be out at the range for six to eight days a month. Without the multiple lanes, training will last longer which means more costs and complaints from neighbors. Additionally, the firearms instructors are in primary roles at the department and would have to be out at the range all day.
Commissioner Ron Wells says this information, along with Jager’s presentation, answered his questions and does not have an issue with it. He says the price at first he was just shocked after factoring in previous costs.
Wells brought up multiple incidents he has witnessed, including here in Manhattan, where officers fired multiple rounds where they didn’t hit the suspect. These incidents are why Wells believes the range is important; to get the training so this doesn’t happen in the future. Wells says he doesn’t want to see any collateral damage to people or buildings because officers aren’t properly trained.
Commissioners also approved the 2021 budget to be reviewed before sending it out to publication. The overall effect of the proposed 2021 budget is a 0.776 decrease from the 2020 budget. The budget will be brought back on Jul 9 after review for the commission to approve for publication.
