The impact of the recent tragedy in Las Vegas has clearly reached our community, including members of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. The men and women of the sheriff’s office prepare and train for these events several times each year in hopes the skills obtained in these trainings will never be used.
The recent article in The Lincoln County News highlighted a citizen of Damariscotta’s concern about the gunfire at the Lincoln County Rifle Club and the apparent use of “automatic weapons” in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting spree. The gunfire heard was most likely the result of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office annual training program. The training is part of an ongoing series that had been planned for several months. Our friends at the Damariscotta rifle range work with us several times each year by closing their range to its members and allowing us to train in a safe environment. While there were no automatic weapons in use while we trained, there were multiple deputies shooting at the same time and the Las Vegas tragedy was discussed.
I trust you understand why this training is vitally important to both you and your sheriff’s office. We are trained by certified firearms instructors who also instruct law enforcement officers from all over Maine each year for the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. We train to prevent or stop tragedies like Las Vegas and to prepare our deputies to make proper critical decisions in life-threatening situations. In fact, we train to avoid situations where we may have to employ deadly force if possible and not to “mow down a whole bunch of people” as was stated by the citizen of Damariscotta in The Lincoln County News article. I, like many of you, heard the news reports from Las Vegas, including the recorded gunfire as it took place. I can understand why the sound of gunfire at the local range may have been unnerving to some. But to even imply that police officers were training to “mow people down” is so far from the truth.
The truth is that every effort is made to avoid the use of deadly force. The sheriff’s office trains not only in firearms use but also in less-than-lethal options, including crisis intervention, electronic control weapons, as well as methods of physical arrest and control. These less-than-lethal skills are used daily by the sheriff’s office to de-escalate and prevent tragedies. Because these events don’t end in tragedy or the use of deadly force, the public is almost never aware how successfully they are being used.
Mistrust in law enforcement is something that appears to be growing each year. The members of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office have nothing to hide. We train in many ways in hopes of avoiding tragedy. We live in the community we serve and look at its citizens as neighbors, friends, and family.
The training last week is necessary and only a small portion of how we prepare for events like Las Vegas. The men and women of the sheriff’s office should not be feared, but I can assure you we are ready to respond and defend our community each day.
(Todd Brackett has been the sheriff of Lincoln County since 2002.)
