A discussion about whether or not to allow Police Sgt. Greg Nichols to attend a special training class in order to become a Certified Tactical Rifle Officer took place during the February Conneaut Lake Regional Police Commission meeting.

The department received some information about this at some point between the January and February meetings. Nichols was pressed for time but did quite a bit of investigating in terms of where certification could be obtained, the costs involved and the time that would go into it.

He found a class in Michigan with 8 days of training but 11 days on site, so to speak. He crunched all numbers for this particular class and including the rifle, it would come to approximately $6,200.

A brief definition of a Tactical Rifle Officer is one who receives specialized training in order to handle a rifle.

According to a retired police officer who was asked via telephone after the meeting, officers are trained in the use of handguns, of course, but this is a different ball game.

The retired Houston officer explained that a rifle officer, such as the above mentioned, would be trained to handle situations like bank robberies, a stand-off and incidents like school shootings, etc.

At the meeting, CL Regional Police Chief Todd Pfeifer said that sometimes when an officer who is trained in this manner is needed on a scene, it can sometimes take hours for him/her to arrive.

Because Nichols has a military background, they thought he would be the perfect candidate for this.

There is no funding available for the class so, they would have to explore the budget for the money.

When asked why a specialized officer might be needed, the chief explained. “Just basically the way things have been occurring around here, it's the next level of security. It gives us the availability and the opportunity to have a Tactical Rifle Officer on scene at a minimal amount of time to secure the area and better serve the citizens...”

He went on to say that, as of late, there have been officers killed and, “being (shot at) out of houses, the multiple shootings in Erie,...things aren't the way they used to be.” in the township and 3 in the borough; 1 non traffic citation in the borough; 2 misdemeanor arrests in the borough;

7 incident reports in the township and 4 in the borough; 2 incidents cleared in the township and 3 in the borough; 2 accident reports in the township with 1 injury and 1 accident report in the borough with no injuries;

13 follow up reports in the township and 6 in the borough; 52 calls in the township and 10 in the borough and 4 outside the area;

17 verbal/written warnings in the township and 31 in the borough; 18 traffic stops in the township and 33 in the borough;

Property value lost/stolen was $50 in the township and $1,500 in the borough with $1,500 property value being recovered in the borough. There were 3 motorist assists in the township.

K9 activities were: 3 hours of training.

Total calls were 136 in January.

The next meeting of the Conneaut Lake Regional Police Commission will take place on March 17. The meetings are held at the Sadsbury Township building and begin at 6:30.