THE E
TUESDAV
Patrolman D.R. (Dick) Wills, a graduate of the Texas A&M
Law Enforcement and Security Training School who cur
rently works for the Bryan Police Department, demons
trates two techniques for taking aim in proper gun hand
ling.
byANGELIQUE
COPELAND
Battalion Staff
A can of green smoke and a
cylinder of fear gas go off in a small
shed. Instead of running away, 19
men run into the fog, one at a time.
They are not being pursued by
the law, they are the law.
They are policeman going
through basic training at the Texas
A&M Law Enforcement and Secur
ity Training School.
The cadets emerge from the
shed coughing, eyes reddened and
streaming. Standing with hands be
hind their backs so as not to rub
their already irritated eyes, they
face the wind trying to blow the
effects of the gas away.
Lt. Gene Knowles of the Bryan
Police Department is the man who
sent them in to the noxious cloud.
“I don't do it to be mean,”
Knowles said. “Every peace officer
ought to know how gas is going to
affect the people he uses it on.
“Police don’t use the gas very
often. Law enforcement does the
best job gassing each other.”
Knowles is a certified Basic
Training and Special Weapons and
Tactics training officer. He teaches
control of civil disorders and traffic
direction at the school.
Officers who attend the school
for basic training come in all ages;
from 18, fresh out of high school, to
a retired master plumber turned
cop.
Dan Condon had been a master
plumber for 20 years when he de
cided to become a game warden.
Now at 44, Condon is going through
the same basic training as Tom
Randall, 18, to meet the state re
quirements for a Texas peace offic
er. Both men work for the Burleson
County Sheriffs Office.
Another student, Santos
Alvarez, has been working with the
Brazos County Sheriffs Offices in
communications for the last year
and a half.
Before that, Alvarez had been a
police officer for two and one half
years in Oklahoma City. He must
still be recertified in a Texas police
training school.
“Every state has some type of
police training," said Bill Cooksey,
assistant training specialist at the
school. “We recognize some out-
of-state departments and require
only a minimum of requalifying, but
40 hours of Texas criminal and traf
fic law is always mandatory.”
Alvarez said he thought it was
beneficial to go back through the
basic training school.
“Not only do I need to learn
Texas law, but even though most
techniques are similar to what I
learned when I went to school,
some have been updated,” Alvarez
said.
First-hand knowledge of tear gas
is only a small part of the 240-hour
curriculum students go through at
the training center.
Studies range from the history of
law enforcement to first aid, motor
vehicle laws, accident investigation
and public speaking.
Beginning Jan. 1,1981, the state
will require an additional 40 hours of
study in both traffic law enforce
ment and traffic investigation.
“There was a time when there
wasn't any law enforcement train
ing except what was provided by
the state agencies,” said Cooksey,
a 23-year police veteran.
“In local law enforcement, all the
training they got was ‘on-the-job’
training.”
After the creation of the Texas
Commission of Law Enforcement
Standards and Education in 1954,
Cooksey said a statewide curricu
lum was set up that all peace offic
ers in Texas must complete within
six moi
The st«
experie
receive
the stal
to go hi
With
ers are
after s<
for sonr
Lt. J<
Statior
they se
school:
classes
departr
Adv<
areas s
ship rr
firearm;
Both
police i
officers
year, e
not req
Kenr
they wc
more <
10,000
each m
than is
Kenr
qualify
twice a
duty we
At th(
structor
ment o
head ol
quire tf
five yea
up to 11
“We
late the
what th
The
training
on the (
Highwa
one of
crampe
The
new bu
tension
Scott s
The\
with the
tute. 1
occupy
west si<
Ther
as well
graphic
The |
moved