The Columbus Police Department shooting range will be getting a makeover, thanks in part to some shell casings. Bill Smith, CPD Director of Forensic Chemistry, said he had an epiphany during a recent range clearing and cleaning.
“The range was in pretty bad shape,” Smith said. “It was overgrown and it badly needed cleaning. We started cleaning it and I noticed all of the discarded bullets lying around — they were brass casings. I thought we could maybe sell the casings and get some money.”
About 3,000 pounds of casings later and a trip to Columbus Scrap Metal later, Smith had a few thousand dollars for renovations at the range.
“We were able to get $1.50 a pound for the casings, so we got $4,085 to use for doing some much-needed repairs for the range,” Smith said.
The range, which is used regularly by the Columbus Air Force Base, the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies, is used for mandatory weapons qualifications by the CPD. Smith said the idea of selling the casings was presented before the Columbus City Council.
“I would like to thank Mayor (Robert) Smith and the city council for allowing us to do this,” he said. “This will help to improve our facilities.”
Police Chief Selvain McQueen applauded Smith’s innovation.
“(Smith) is to be commended for his efforts,” McQueen said. “In a time when budgets are tight, these are the things that help us improve our training, which will be used to better serve the citizens of Columbus.”
The shooting range has also activated a $120,000 state-of-the-art indoor shooting simulation, something Smith said will also enhance the department’s training.
“It’s a Fire Arms Training Simulator (FATS),” Smith said. “It was graciously given to us by the Columbus Air Force Base.”
The FATS system uses actual weapons connected to a computer to fire lasers at video targets. It includes real-time scenarios, allowing officers to train in a non-threatening environment.
“All of our officers will be training on this system,” Smith said. “It is a very cost effective way to train as it does not use live ammunition.”
The FATS system joins a new $20,000 target system on the outside range Smith installed during the cleanup.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.