Citizen Police Academy: Inside SWAT team training

FORT MYERS, Fla.- Now, more than ever, police officers are under the microscope.

From hiring, to patrols, everything is questioned.

Monday night, WINK News takes you behind the badge here in Southwest Florida, to show you how officers are trained to act, in some of the most dangerous situations.

Investigative reporter Sam Smink went through the training herself, and has the firsthand account.

It started with a bang.

Week six of the Citizen Police Academy, and the class is on its first official assignment, as part of the Fort Myers SWAT Team.

“You’ll have a mask, throat protector. Chest protector on, and we have pants for you to wear. You will be loaded up with the ammunition, just like we would be loaded up. The way we are going to load all the guns, all you have to do is pull the trigger,” said Sgt. Jason Fields.

Fields explains the class is checking out reports of a “suspicious male, where guns are known at the address. We have to investigate, find out why it is suspicious.”

One of the goals of the Citizen Police Academy is to provide real life scenarios for students to participate in, just like the ones police face on a daily basis.

So with the little information class members received, teams of two were sent to investigate.

“When you guys get dispatched to a call, unless it’s an emergency situation where you hear a fight or a shooting or something, you don’t just run into someone’s house. Have to knock and announce,” explained Sgt. Enrico Doro.

When it was our turn, 28 seconds later, the suspect was dead.

To understand why we made these choices, let’s go back to week two of the academy, with Lt. Jeff Bernice, a SWAT team commander.

He came to the class to talk about officer safety.

One of the main lessons taught to new officers? Action is faster than reaction.

Lt. Bernice hands me a gun, tells me to have it up, with my hand on the trigger. He tells me, when I see a threat, I am supposed to shoot. But before I even have time to think, he shoots me.

In real life, I would have been dead.

“Even though Sam was ready with a gun on me, I still won the gun fight because she had to think about it,” said Lt. Bernice.

We learned there’s no time to hesitate. But our class is smart, they know not every situation is perfect. So we asked, what if that hadn’t been a gun?

Lt. Bernice tells us that officers “make mistakes everyday,” and that “you have to act on what is presented to you.”

He shows us some real and fake guns. It’s impossible for us to tell the difference.

The simple answer is, it’s not that simple.

Tuesday, WINK News will show you what it was like to face multiple shoot or don’t shoot situations. You’ll be surprised at how we decided when to pull the trigger.

Click here to see part one: A look into FMPD’s Citizen Police Academy.