MPD trains for high-speed stops and more at Marshfield Airport
Here’s the scenario. The bad guy comes driving down the road at 40 MPH, a police car in pursuit. The police officer ahead comes into position, pulls over, and retrieves his STOP STICK bag from the cargo area of his SUV. He strategically positions himself behind an abutment or rail – something that puts him somewhat out of sight and is strong for safety. At the right time, based on distance of the oncoming vehicle and presence of other traffic, he holds the bag by its end handle and throws it sidearm across the street (never over or under hand, which can shorten the distance). Then at the strategic time he pulls the STOP STICK into position in front of the bad guy’s vehicle.
Some of the 36 hardened steel, Teflon coated quills in each of three, three-foot sections (each quill 1-7/8 inches long), pierce through and stick into the tires, pulling out of their polymer core and tartan tape glass filament frame. The quills force air to escape the tire moderately – not in a fantastic blast like we might see on TV. That maintains a safe release of air, taking about 20 seconds for the tires to deflate and forcing the driver to pull over.
MPD officers train in STOP STICK deployment at Marshfield Municipal Airport. Photo courtesy of MPD
Scenario 2: The bad guy comes tooling down the road at 60 MPH, a police car in pursuit. The same scenario plays out, but much faster.
Scenario 3: The bad guy comes flying down the road at 80 MPH, a police car in pursuit. Yup, you guessed it. But a whole lot faster.
At least, that’s the plan. And we know that all plans take practice. That’s why Marshfield Police put in four, four-hour training sessions at Marshfield Municipal Airport between Monday, Oct. 26, and Tuesday, Oct. 27. The training exercise was coordinated with Shoreline Aviation, which manages the airport for the town.
STOP STICK training
“We’re training with STOP STICKS tire deflation devices,” said Sgt. Michael Gonsalves during the break between Tuesday’s sessions. “We use them to deflate tires of fleeing suspect vehicles. It slowly deflates tires over 15-20 seconds, not too fast, gives them time to pull over. If it’s a high-speed chase, we can stop the pursuit safely.”
Sgt. Gonsalves has been Marshfield Police Department’s training officer for about 14 of his 18 years on the force. He’s also a patrol supervisor on the midnight shift and serves as deputy commander of the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (METRO-LEC) SWAT team, which serves 46 local and sheriff’s departments in the South Metro Boston region.
Sgt. Michael Gonsalves is Marshfield Police Department’s training officer. Photo/Shoreline Aviation
“We practice two methods of deployment,” he said. “If we know the road, we get there ahead of time, pull them in front of the car last second. The second method is we throw them out in front of the car fast as we can. Then we learn the differences between the two.”
Each officer – 12-14 in each session – performed all roles.
“Each officer threw the STOP STICKS, each was the bad guy driving the car, to see how bad guys might respond, and each also was in the chase vehicle. We want to get all three perspectives at 40 miles per hour, 60 miles per hour, and 80 miles per hour. Each officer did it 6 times, all 3 speeds. Then each time they rebagged it and stored it in the car.”
The officers did not train with actual STOP STICKS. The training aids they used were the same size and weight but made of foam, so they could run over them with no damage.
Video courtesy of Marshfield Police Department
Rifle deployment training
In addition to the STOP STICK training, officers also worked on rifle deployment exercises related to high-speed pursuit scenarios. And yes, the rifles were loaded – with biodegradable paintball projectiles, which were shot at cardboard targets.
“The officers go through each step, from removing the rifle from its locking device between the drivers’ and passengers’ seats, putting a round into the chamber as it’s being taken out of the car,” Sgt. Gonsalves said. “They need to turn the optic on, employ it, and then put the rifle back into the car, unloaded, with the magazine back in, and stored correctly.”
The officers train on each skill in isolation – deploying the STOP STICKS and deploying the rifles – and then do them both together.
“We pull over, take a tactical position, engage targets appropriately, use voice commands,” he said. “We build into this. This is a super high-stress thing we might have to do in real life.”
An MPD officer trains in rifle deployment exercises at Marshfield Municipal Airport. Photo courtesy of MPD
An MPD officer trains in rifle deployment exercises at Marshfield Municipal Airport. Photo/Shoreline Aviation
Sgt. Gonsalves said that in the past five years the department has employed STOP STICKS about five times.
“These are super rare events, high liability, high stress, so we train on those more often,” he said. “We do active shooter training every year but haven’t had an active shooter event yet.”
MPD trains regularly in many areas, including on the law and CPR, and also de-escalation skills and defensive tactics. The department’s training programs are unique to Marshfield. There is little the state mandates; police departments make sure their officers live up to their responsibility, he said, adding that MPD officers train about every other month, in person and online.
Benefits of training at airport
And training at the airport has its benefits.
“We train at the airport because it’s a lot safer,” Sgt. Gonsalves said. “In the past, we would go late at night behind Star Market or up on Enterprise Drive and do very small groups. It makes more sense to have a controlled environment like the airport to do this training. This is the only training we do here now, but we hope to use it again for other situations.”
The training took place along part of main Taxiway A and on the midfield ramp (the paved area with the giant “MARSHFIELD” and compass rose to welcome pilots), and the cardboard targets were positioned in the grass on the east side of that ramp.
Sgt. Gonsalves said no scores are used in the training. “We have to show proficiency; there’s no number score,” he said. “We just keep doing it till we do it right. Any remedial work is done right then and there.”
Cover photo: MPD officers train in STOP STICK deployment at Marshfield Municipal Airport. Photo courtesy of MPD
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About Shoreline Aviation
Shoreline Aviation Inc. has been offering premier aviation services for 45 years. An FAA Certified Air Carrier since 1981, Shoreline operates a versatile fleet of turboprop and jet aircraft. The company is headquartered in Marshfield, MA, where it is the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) at Marshfield Municipal Airport. Shoreline also has an office at Palm Beach. The company offers aircraft management, sales and acquisitions, executive and personal charter services, FBO services, aircraft maintenance, airport management services, flight lessons, and more. To learn more about Shoreline Aviation, call 888.291.JETS (5387), visit www.shorelineaviation.net, or email info@shorelineaviation.net.
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