Colorado civilians in community academy learn law enforcement tactics

Douglas County residents walked a day in law enforcement's shoes, marking the culmination of a month-long community academy.

DCSO deputies trained the public on Saturday, taking them through "shoot/don't shoot" simulations.

"Trigger finger is right here until we're ready to shoot. We don't do this, we don't do this. We full-extend out as we aim, pull the trigger," said DCSO Deputy Ryan Falkner, while demonstrating how to hold a gun.

"The simulator really shows them the split millisecond law enforcement has to react to life-threatening situations," Falkner said. "Many of our residents come out with an eye-opening experience; many of them say, 'wow, I wasn't expecting this.'"

"I think the computer simulation was the most challenging. You don't know what to expect. A potential bad guy coming upon you comes upon you so fast, you know, I'm not prepared for that," said community academy participant Martin Claus.

Civilians also learned arrest control techniques, traffic stops and SWAT maneuvers.

"Kinda just showing them a little bit of what SWAT goes through, going through buildings and then having to make that decision, 'does this person have a weapon or do they not have a weapon? How do I address them?'" said Jeff Pelle, a DCSO deputy and regional SWAT team member.

Pelle teaches from experience. While responding to a domestic disturbance call in 2017, he was shot and another DCSO deputy was killed.

"I've been through something like this -- real-life scenarios -- and how important it is, especially for law enforcement, to know how to clear a building and keep each other safe and why we practice this," Pelle said.

The goal of the training is to build relationships between law enforcement and civilians and keep everyone safe.

"Our minds go everywhere, from our safety to bystander safety to the other residents' safety, all on top of why we're there," Falkner said.

"The instruction is great. Really enjoyed the professionalism. The hands-on training that we just experienced today was just a great insight to understand, again, the danger that our law enforcement faces potentially every day," Claus said.

DCSO holds the community academy once a year, and it's free to participate. For more information, click here.