By VALERIE METREJEAN

Staff Writer

For the Tech and Ruston police departments, last week's afternoons were spent at the driving range.

Instead of golf tees and chip shots, this driving range consisted of tack strips and serpentine maneuvering around orange cones.

The Ruston Police Department held an Emergency Vehicle Operation Course that included classroom training in addition to the driving course.

"We go to the pistol range twice a year and go through [the course] at least once every two years," Captain Jim Hilton, assistant police chief of Ruston, said.

"We spend more time behind the wheel of a car than with a gun in our hand and cars are just as deadly as a gun," Hilton said.

T.P. Parker, a lieutenant at the Ruston Police Department, said police officers are "five times more likely to be involved in a crash" due to more driving time under different circumstances than most drivers. For this reason it is important they learn how to handle emergency situations.

"You always do a thing the way you practiced it," Tech Police Chief Stephen Quinnelly said.

Quinnelly said this is why the Tech and Ruston police practice in a controlled setting.

"For four hours in the morning, the classroom portion consisted of films featuring what to do and what not to do," Quinnelly said.

The officers discussed liability, tactics, and the equipment of the car.

In the four-hour afternoon sessions the police officers had the chance to put their learning to practice.

The hands-on training portion of the course included a track full of obstacles to teach precision. Speeds were as fast as 50 or 60 miles per hour but were rarely faster.

"We do not get a lot of high speed chases in this town," Hilton said. "So we are not training for high speed pursuits but for good driving techniques in general."

Hilton said even though they do not focus on training for high speed pursuits, many of the techniques they learn could be applied to that type of situation.

"I thought it was a lot like playing [the video game] Grand Theft Auto, because you have to go through driving school on that game," Matt Dearman, a sophomore family and child studies major, said.

Dearman witnessed the training and had the chance to ride with an officer through the course demonstrating what not to do and what to do.

"He showed me what happens when you jerk the wheel instead of keeping it smooth," Dearman said. This explained the Crown Victoria's journey into the median.

"A car weighs 4,000 pounds but when a car shifts its weight to one side it is 6,000 pounds," Quinnelly said. This information is vital for the officers to know, so they can better control their vehicle.

Quinnelly said the officers were graded on performances in the class and on the road.

For many of these police officers it is a refresher course, to remind them of technique that will provide for safer driving.

Quinnelly said, "We are very appreciative to the Ruston Police Department for sponsoring this training course and allowing the Tech Police Department to participate."