www.idaho8.com/2003stories/December/11.htm

Students say Mock Drill caused Injuries
AT LEAST FOUR TEENS SAY THEY WERE INJURED, WHEN POLICE FIRED PAINTBALLS AT THEM DURING A HOSTAGE DRILL.
POLICE OFFICERS AND SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES USED MADISON HIGH SCHOOL FOR THEIR MOCK DRILL.
STUDENTS WERE TOLD THE DRILL WOULD HAPPEN.THEY JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHEN.
YESTERDAY, POLICE ENTERED THE BUILDING TAKING VOLUNTEER STUDENTS AS HOSTAGES.
SOME OF THOSE STUDENTS WERE HIT BY THE PAINTBALLS.
RANDI WEATHERSTON SAYS SHE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN TO PARTICIPATE.
THAT'S UNTIL SHE WAS USED AS A HUMAN SHIELD AND SHOT AT A NUMBER OF TIMES BY PAINT BALLS.
THIS WAS THE SCENE AT MADISON COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL HOSTAGE DRILL.
AROUND A HUNDRED PEOPLE, INCLUDING STUDENTS, LAW ENFORCEMNT AND MEDICAL STAFF CREATED A MOCK HOSTAGE CRISIS.
PAINT BALLS WERE FIRED.
AND SOME STUDENTS HIT.
RANDI WEATHERSTON\INJURED IN DRILL:
"It hurt really bad like five feet away they were shooting paint balls and i got a bunch of bruises."
RANDI WEATHERSTON HAS BRUISES ON HER LEG AND ARM.
SHE SAYS SHE WASN'T HIT AS MANY TIMES AS A COUPLE OTHER STUDENTS.
THIS ALL HAPPENED WHEN SHE AND A FEW OTHERS WERE TAKEN AS HOSTAGES, THEY DIDN'T MIND THAT.
BUT WEATHERSTON SAYS SHE WAS SCARED WHEN THE OFFICERS STARTED SHOOTING TOWARDS THEM AND HIT THE HOSTAGES INSTEAD OF THE PRETEND SUSPECTS.
Weatherston- "We didn't know what to do and we were gettin shot at and we were um it was kind of scary."
CHIEF LYNN ARCHIBALD\REXBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT:
"We wanted it to be realistic the school coperated the students coperated there were a few injuried to some people and we feel bad about it but it was never intended to happen."
THE STUDENTS HIT IN YESTERDAY'S DRILL WERE TREATED AT THE HOSPITAL.
THE POLICE DEPARMTENT IS PAYING THOSE BILLS.ALONG WITH REIMBURSING A FEW OF THE STUDENTS RUINED CLOTHES.
"It was pretty chaotic and a lot of stuff happened that shouldn't have."
"We made some mistakes we made mistakes that we would do different next time."
THE POLICE AND SHERIFF'S STAFF MET TODAY. THEY HEARD FROM A STUDENT AND HIS DAD ABOUT THEIR CONCERNS.
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SAYS THEY WILL DEFINITELY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME.
THE REXBURG POLICE CHIEF SAYS HE DOES APPOLIGZE TO THE STUDENTS INJURED.
BUT HE SAYS THE EXPEREINCE WAS POSITIVE AND BENEFICIAL TO THOSE INVOLVED.
THE STUDENTS TAKEN AS HOSTAGES WERE TOLD THEY COULD LEAVE IF THEY WANTED TO, BUT WEATHERSTON AND THE OTHERS STAYED.

It's for the safty of the children.

They should STFU, and get shot.

More "stupid cop tricks."  This one and the one about the "Shop-n-go" managers...what the heck are these departments thinking?

Were the student hostages provided with face masks?  A paintball in the face is devastating, in the eye?  sheeit.  They'd be paying more than medical bills and clothing...

Stupid stupid stupid.

Scott

I hope a PD wouldn't fire paintballs at students who weren't wearing protective goggles.

Those things make short work of an eyeball, and it sounds like the PD was spraying and praying.

Bruises?  Who gives a frick about bruises?

That is always the problem with training with paint balls, officers seem to treat it as a game instead of a situation of what they would do if [b] it was a real deal thing[/b] I was never able to correct that problem. I feel it is insurmountable as far as a training situation goes.

No kidding - you are right.  Just imagine if one of the kids had been hit in the eye.

I am sure all the kids volunteered, and had parental consent, if they lost an eye , they could chalk it up to a learning experience. End of story.

The police are getting out of hand.  I thought schools were for learning, not for training cops to shoot at students.  Where's the next training going to be held at, pre-school?


Yes, those paint balls hurt like heck, not to mention the nice round black & blue you'll have for a couple of weeks.

What asses!

Come on, the kids volunteered for this.

Maybe the police didnot tell them what they were going to do, but they did volunteer.

And they got shot with PAINTBALLS. Good Grief.  I pay to go do the same thing.

I dont think they have any room to complain. Like I said. THEY volunteered.

i don't have a problem with this.
they know the damage a paintball does.
they volunteered.
the knew they would be taken hostage
they were told they could leave.
they stayed.
they knew they might get shot.

what a bunch of whiney kids.

i would have packed a canvas jacket or a sweatshirt to use a padding.  

i am not stupid enough to volunteer.  well maybe if i had a set of padded coveralls.
but as the man says.  you pay for the ticket and you takes the ride.    

Your missing the point here.

1. If they werent given safety goggles, they couldhave permantly lost an eye.

2. If this is how they train, itis exactly how they are going to do in real life. That means a lot of injured/killed hostages when its live rounds and not paintballs.

You [b]WILL[/b] perform in real life, [b]EXACTLY[/b] how you train.

These are all just desensitization drills to make the sheep more complacent. Just like the training they do with animals to make them docile when it comes time to slaughter them or perform experiments on them. It all for the betterment of society.

If this drill was done without the use of goggles, I say sue the shit out of the police department for "risk of injury to minors."

You can't step on a PB field w/o goggles. They won't let you. You'll get your ass thrown out faster than you can say, "But...."

A team I was on won a tournament game simply because someone on the other team took his goggles off [i]while we were all walking away from the field, after the game.[/i]  It was a tie, and his disqualification handed the game to us.

You don't fuck around with eyeballs and paintballs.

Two things bother me about this.

First, a school is for teaching children, not to serve as a "Hogan's Alley" for for the local PD.

Second, did I miss something, or were the kids supposed to be hostages?  If they are the ones getting lit up, perhaps what that PD needs are some cops who can shoot straight.

I thought the same exact thing. How the hell are they supposed to know? Most people don't, and most people will never know. This is terrible, there was no need for this to happen, that is why they have shoothouses and they train with dummies. You don't train with live people unless you are the best, and it seems like they are far from that.

not the kinetic energy stats no.
but they know if they get hit it hurts and they get a bruise.  i have been shot point blank by them and they bruise and scrape the skin.  it's a nasty wound but not lethal.  as for the goggles.  i am sure everyone had a set of goggles on before they started the exorcise.  it sounded pretty dynamic with terrorists taking hostages and actually using them as human shields.  i bet it was cool until folks got hurt and started whining!  but them most "cool" things are like that.

So the point of this exersize is to show students that if they are taken hostage in school the police will come and shoot them!

Another unfortunate sign of the times that police are in a seige mentality.

Famous last words:

CHIEF LYNN ARCHIBALD\REXBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT:
"there were a few injuries to some people and we feel bad about it but it was never intended to happen."

There you have it.  Hopefully the moron resonsible for this drill realizes he's doing more harm to his officers and the public he's supposed to be protecting than any perceived good.

I disagree.  Most people I talk to about paint balls have no idea how hard they hit.  I had no idea until I got a paintball gun.  I thought is was just like a small water baloon.

I doubt they knew that it would hurt.

The whole idea was warped from the get go.  Let the police practice somewhere else, that type of shit is uncalled for in a school setting.  Can sonmeone say [b]"STU-NODS"[/b].

Ok, I stand corrected.

I assumed that the kids were informed of what was going to happen.  Unless the police had the velocities way up, I dont see how the kidsgot any more than brusies and maybe scratches.

I wouldnt volunteer to do it, but I figgured that they knew what they were getting into.

the kids i know that play brag about how much they hurt and show off their bruises.  it's a very popular game and i would bet the girl in question has heard the stories and looked at a few pant ball bruises.    

Ya think?



YA THINK?



Translation: Take your lumps, you maggots!

This is pretty fucking funny though!  Just think from the cops point of view....you have less than lethal paint ball guns....you have WILLING high school students, who speed, run stop signs, back talk you on a daily basis and generally make life more difficult....you put the two together.....the cops will definately take advantage of that opportunity!  Wouldn't you??

If the cops shot the hostages, I would think that is a cause for concern.

If the kids were not wearing eye protection, that is a cause for someone to get slapped.

Wouldn't that still be a mistake? Ummm...

Hmm - 5 FEET away and they still hit the hostage?  
CR

The whole thing with police training in schools is absurd.   I was shot in the neck with a sheridan at a paintball tournament and it split my skin, bloodied and black & blue.

Absurd totally absurd.

Whats this country coming to.

I live about 20 milkes away from this town.  Of the three local TV stations this is the only one that has anything about it on their websites.  Also the people that own the TV station, that the origianl link came from, also own the local newspaper.  I didn't see anything about it in the newspaper this morning.  

One important thing to note is that this TV station and the newspaper are very anti-gun and anti-law enforcement, so take the story with a grain of salt.

I will try to watch another TV stations noon time news and see if they say anything.

Paraord16

I agree.  While I certainly agree with immersive training, I think that FATS simulators could provide this to a degree without risk of harm.  In this situation perhaps academy cadets would be a better choice, as the training would certainly benefit all.  Proper safety gear must be utilized.

Campy-- I wouldn't volunteer for that. I did not see the 5 foot distance in the quote. However, Where  I play paintball, the rule is 10 feet and I dont know about this girl, but I am not good at estimating distances. We are taking this 5 foot number and going with it as fact, which it may be. But like was said, if the cops still hit the hostage at "5 feet", they have more to worry about than a possible hostage situation.

For kicks, I just called my 13 yo daughter at home and asked her if she knew what Paintball was. "I dunno Dad, is it like LaserTag?".  

Uhhh, yeah honey, except IT HURTS LIKE SHIT! Thank God its only nasty and not lethal.

How can you assume the kids knew what it feels like?  Please tell me you don't have kids.

Piss Poor Parenting is going to be the ruination of the nation.

If the parents signed consents they're idiots.
If the cops thought this was a good idea they're idiots.
The school admins, the school board - all idiots.

Does no one possess common f*ing sense anymore?

I watched the noon time news on two different channels and neither mentioned the story.  Like I said earlier I wonder if we are getting the whole story or just a known anti-gun/anti-law enforcement news media slanted coverage.  


SHOTAR,
As far as academy cadets goes, this department has probably aroun 20-25 officers.  If the police academy was in session (located about 250 miles away, runs about 4 sessions a year, & serves the entire state) there probably wouldn't be enough cadets to do the exercise anyway.

I'm not trying to justify what may or may not of happened, but people need to remember that for right or wrong, things are done different in rural areas compared to big cities.  By the way population of this town is listed at 14,204 people in my 2000 Nationals Geographic atlas.

Paraord16

Siminitions helps.  Hurts more than paintballs, so there is more incentive to do well. Plus the guns are real guns instead of some giant thing with a hopper.

It was stupid of the cops to use students in a drill like this. They should have borrowed the school on a weekend. Get local college CJ majors, Jailers, Police academy recruits,ect to be the role players.

Kind of going off track here, but what kind of reputable news site prints their stories IN ALL CAPS?

"they are only paintballs" tell that to my friend you got hit in his hand "with just a paint ball" 3 stiches latter he wears gloves when he goes and paintballs now.... people who painball dont wear normal clothes, everything is heavy duty thick clothes... not your everyday street clothes...who ever says they are "just paintballs" has never been hit by one close range in normal clothes

 Campy, don't see any takers.. How 'bout anyone willing to volunteer their teenage kid for the job, and sign away your legal rights to restitutuion, should Little Johnny take one on the chin?
 One of the schools I geek in had a "lockdown" drill.  It was done after school, with no children present.  The local PD (a small local force in a very small town) had a volunteer staff member act as a loony, and they responded while the school employees simulated a lockdown.  It wasn't done with simmunitions or paintballs, just general role playing.  The cops were plainclothes with badges, and guns in waistbands, "mexican" style.  The lockdown went off, everyone duck-n-covered, and the boys in blue(jeans) sallied forth and apprehended the "suspect".  The worst danger involved was the possibility of blowing off a buttcheek, and everyone was back at the station in time for beer and medals.
 The faculty were lightly traumatized. Less hardy souls called for a moat, implanted ID chips, and quad-fifty anti-aircraft mounts. For a week or two, everyone was on edge.  The mailman was accosted by a librarian with a sharpened ruler for not having ID and knowing this week's Secret Handshake.  Things got nutty. After a while, it calmed down. People got a grip.  We've got a little bit more security, and it's not a bad thing.  

Seems High School raids are going to become the new thing... not a good move in my book.

Drug dogs come through and sniff lockers while kids are in class?.. fine, but no laying in the halls with Navy SEAL wannabe's muzzle-sweeping everyone.


So, why did the cops choose a school and students to perform this practice excersize? I'm sure if they put an article in the paper they could have gotten many adult volunteers.. as well as get officers to recruit some relatives/friends to be hostages.

Cops screwed up... AGAIN

my new phrase:
"This thread is useless without [b]phone numbers and email addresses[b]"

I quickly scrambled this together..

[img]http://members.cox.net/tivoli410/Contact.jpg[/img]

Best post so far.IMO

Ok....I must be missing something, the cops shot the Hostages?

I'm a teenager and go to public school. Sure, some of us might need to be shot with a paintball gun at 5 feet but WTF?!?!?! The cops shot the HOSTAGES?


reminds me of the scene in speed..."pop quiz hot shot...terrorist has a hostage and is walking to a plane trying to get away...what do you do?"...."shoot the hostage"

Paint Balls? Bruises? Always ask what you are getting into.

They should be happy they didn't get the Pepper Balls.

Rexburg Police Dept.
153 E. Main St.
Rexburg, ID 83440
208-359-3000
OR
Rexburg PD
D Lynn Archibald
PO Box 280 Rexburg 83440
208-359-3008
FAX-208-359-3009

and of course
Rexburg City Hall
12 N. Center
Rexburg, ID 83440
208-359-3020