Officer Charles Flesch and Detective Mark Senger drop five bullets into each tray before telling four civilians to put on safety glasses and headphones and walk up to the firing line.
The civilians, who are participants in the Community Police Academy put on by the Lake Forest Police Department, load their bullets one-by-one into a magazine. They then load the magazine into the pistol.
“Slam it hard like you’re trying to break it,” Flesch says.
The officers coach the participants on how to grip the gun, turn off the safety and line up the sights with the target.
It’s time to fire.
Even through noise-muffling headphones, the shots loudly ring out in the basement range at the police station. The recoil from the guns causes them to buck upward in the hands of the participants.
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“There’s more kick than I thought it would be,” said Chris Benes. “That’s the biggest surprise, how powerful it is. It’s more difficult than I thought to hit something you’re aiming at.”
This is only the second time Benes has shot a handgun. The first was with a group of friends out on a farm.
“That was really chaotic,” Benes said. “People were just firing randomly. Here it’s very safe and organized.”
For Nancy Novit the experience was completely new.
“I never held a gun before,” Novit said. “I was totally unprepared for the recoil. I didn’t feel like I had control over it.”
In spite of that, Novit did fairly well, said Officer Brett Marquette. Her shots were grouped together on the paper target.
Senger says the advantage of being a new shooter is that you haven’t had a chance to develop bad habits.
While everyone in the May 4 session took a turn firing both a handgun and a rifle, Senger said that participants in other Citizens Police Academy sessions have declined. Senger recalls a previous session where an older man quietly stood in the back.
“I asked him if he wanted to give this a go,” Senger said. “He said the last time I fired a gun was in Holland during WWII and I never want to fire again.”
For those who plan to buy a gun, Senger has one word: practice.
“The biggest mistake I see people make who want a gun for home defense or self-defense is they buy it and then they never practice,” Senger said. “You have to practice with it.”
Lake Forest police hold the academy for residents twice a year.
“It builds bridges between the community and the police department,” said Marquette, one of the organizers of the program. “It allows out residents to get a better look at our police department and how we function and what our typical duties are.”
The ten Wednesday sessions cover a variety of topics including DUI enforcement, arrest, search and seizure, interview and interrogation, narcotics investigations, juvenile issues, domestic violence and officer training.
It’s free, but classes are limited to about 15 people and participants have to live or work in Lake Forest, Marquette said.
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