It starts with the squeeze of a butt-cheek.
When he’s ready to go, the last rifle-bearing officer in the line of Seymour Emergency Services Unit members signals by pinching the guy in front of him.
It triggers a well-organized chain reaction for the ESU officers, lined up single file and armed with automatic weapons. When the first officer in line gets pinched, it’s time to move.
It’s called the “Squeeze Up” communication method, and it was one of the simpler tactics Seymour police officers practiced during a week-long training with ex-Marine Chuck Habermehl this week.
On Wednesday, the ESU team spent about eight hours at the police department’s firing range on Silvermine Road practicing “linear entry,” a technique used when serving dangerous search warrants.
The team practiced with live ammunition to simulate the sounds and feel of a real scenario.
Over and over, groups of two or three officers lined up outside a makeshift building and practiced entering, one officer at a time. Once inside the room, the officers had to shoot “hostile” targets, posters of men with mullets and masks, guns drawn.
“It adds an element of realism to it,” said ESU team leader Tom Scharf during a break. “Being able to shoot like this with live ammunition, everyone’s more aware.”
Later they practiced what to do with hostages and “non-hostile” targets.
Choreographed Movements
When the officers enter a room, every movement is choreographed, said Captain Paul Beres, the commander of the ESU team. Once officers are assigned a position, they know what to do and they know what their team mates are doing.
Each officer, depending on their spot in the line, has a different section of the room to scan and secure. They enter one at a time, and leave the room in reverse order to be as effective with time and cover as possible.
They communicate with hand signals and a radio system inside their helmets, Beres said.
“This is high speed stuff,” Habermehl said. “It looks easy because they’re doing a good job.”
The training requires the teams repeat the drills over and over to create “muscle memory,” Beres said.
The repetition will become instinct, Beres said, and will set in when a situation occurs.
“They have to be able to think under a stressful situation,” Beres said. “They have to be able to react that way.”
The Gear
The officers have to be able to react with about 65 pounds of gear on. That includes their bullet-proof vests and helmets.
The officers carry a side-arm pistol and a full-automatic .223 caliber rifle.
Chuck Who?
This was the third year the Seymour Police Department hired Habermehl to teach ESU members response methods for serious incidents such as hostage situations and risky search warrants.
Habermehl’s training company “Close Quarters Battle“ is based in Florida. Habermehl, a Vietnam veteran who used to train Navy SEALs, has been in Connecticut for the past five weeks training state police teams and other municipality ESU teams.
“Tactics are tactics,” Habermehl said during a break in the drills at the police shooting range on Silvermine Road. “If it works for the SEALs, it works here.”
Beres said Habermehl’s training makes a huge difference.
“He’s been there, he’s done that,” Beres said. “He’s been all over the world.”
The week costs the department $7,000, Beres said. It comes out of the department’s training budget.
“I would hate to see the town lose this,” Beres said. “With budgets the way they are, you never know… Training is just so important.”
