Right on target

When Sgt. Eric Palmer took over as range master and firearms instructor five years ago, the Bella Vista Police Department was averaging scores of 420 during its annual shooting qualifications.

By state law, an officer needs to score 400 out of 500 to qualify.

Now, largely thanks to Palmer's tutelage, BVPD's average hovers around 460.

The 40-point swing "tells me and my bosses I'm doing a good job," Palmer joked.

All of Bella Vista's 26 sworn officers, from Chief Ken Farmer to rookie officer Robert Warren, must make their way to the Highlands Gun Range, 16105 Rocky Dell Hollow Road, to qualify.

Palmer presided over the spring qualifications April 29-30.

Officers must qualify once every 12 months with their service pistol -- the on-duty weapon -- and shotguns, which they carry in squad cars, Palmer said. They also can qualify their off-duty weapon.

Failure to qualify could result in an officer being stripped of their weapon and placed on administrative leave, under department policy.

On course, officers use 50 rounds and stand at various distances -- three, five, seven and 15 yards -- shooting a stationary target. They are required to alternate between weak, strong and two-hand shooting, under requirements laid out by the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training.

Palmer believes in "cold shoots," not letting his officers warm-up before qualifications.

That minor distinction is something Palmer says makes qualifying more like a real-life situation officers are likely to find themselves in.

Before Palmer arrived, qualifications were held annually. Now there are spring and fall qualifications, as well as a low-light shoot. Held every other year in the fall, usually near dusk, the low-light shoot is a simulated situation he says gives officers a "realistic exposure to what they could experience."

Palmer joined BVPD in 2008. He was promoted to evening shift (3 p.m. to 11 p.m.) sergeant in 2012 and took over as range master in 2010. He says his officers' high scores reflect a benevolent teaching method.

"I don't believe in failing," Palmer said. "I haven't had an officer not qualify in three years."

Officers often fail because of mental pressure, Palmer said.

"It's a mental attitude, and there is some fear involved," he added. "They're thinking, they could take my gun away, I could potentially lose my job. Then there's peer pressure and competition. The reason (officers) had that problem in the past is because they didn't have a coach to correct them right then and there."

Palmer has done some adjunct teaching at Northwest Arkansas Community College, which he says helps him "coach up" some of the officers during qualifications.

"(Firearms training) is one of the more serious aspects of the job," Palmer said. "Because whenever an officer goes to a scene or is at a traffic stop, there is always one weapon brought into the situation: theirs."

"And I enjoying talking with the guys and teaching them. Their success is a personal reflection of me," he added. "Any day on the gun range is a good day in my life."

Palmer's students share a similar upbeat attitude about qualifications.

"I love it," said officer Blake Hughes, who joined the department in 2009, transitioning from dispatcher to patrol by 2013. "It's good practice and it keeps your skills up."

Meanwhile, Chief Ken Farmer says Palmer makes qualifying feel like more than a yearly test.

"He does the kind of things that take out the dreariness of the test," Farmer said. "He's got a good personality and he interacts well with people."