The Tamaqua Police Department completed its annual qualification at the Fraternal Order of Police firing range in Owl Creek, Tamaqua, two weeks ago.

Both full-time and part-time officers are required to perform the yearly training.

“Usually every May, the entire department throughout the week gets out there,” said Tamaqua Cpl. Thomas Rodgers. “We test proficiency and we do training, as far as weapons handling and some shooting and movement drills.”

Throughout the week, officers rolled to the range rain or shine to perform the tests.

“The state requires that we qualify. There’s lowlight shooting that’s required by the state, too,” Rodgers said. “There’s a lot of training and money that goes into the firearms training. We try to keep up on it and keep the guys proficient.

“The last thing I want as a firearms instructor is to have something bad happen on the street where an innocent person becomes injured or killed because of something that I trained a guy.”

The officers used different weapons and performed a variety of different drills. They shot from various distances, as well as going through more complex shooting on the move, from behind cover, and from different positions, which helped simulate different circumstances.

“The qualification scores are set by the state,” Rodgers said. “There’s a proficiency score that they have to reach. I’m not happy as an instructor when a guy just barely meets that proficiency score. Our handgun score is out of 300. Passing score is 75 or 80 percent. On paper that looks good. … But we could probably make you a little better, and make you a 90 percent shooter and take away some of that risk.”

The police who work for multiple boroughs or departments have to train with both sets of weapons.

Patrolman Ryan Oldt works for the Coaldale borough and is also a part-time officer in Tamaqua. Oldt had to complete the training twice, with both sets of weapons.

“Part-time guys typically have to supply their own handgun, so he only has to go through the handgun course one time,” Rodgers said. “I can use that score for us and for Coaldale. We have our own shotguns and rifles for the departments, and Coaldale has the same thing, so he has to qualify on theirs, too.”

Training is not just at Owl Creek either.

Local police, including Rodgers, attend many trainings throughout the course of the year.

“It’s not just one annual training that local law enforcement goes through,” said Oldt, who has been on the job since 2014. “One of the biggest take-aways is keeping the strategy and keeping everyone on the same page, and being familiar with the weapons we are firing. A lot of departments offer more training throughout the year, not just the mandated hours. Cpl. Rodgers has been at multiple trainings throughout the year.”