BOZEMAN — You’ve probably seen a police car speed by or make a fast turn on the road at some point. But did you know that driving one requires intense hands-on training?
That’s why Gallatin College’s all-new Law Enforcement Academy – which we recently reported on – has been holding a training at the empty parking lot at Gallatin High this week. The training gives academy students the opportunity to learn how to control and maneuver police vehicles.
WATCH: Bozeman recruits are training hard — high speeds, sharp turns, and stop sticks. Here's a look inside Gallatin College's Law Enforcement Academy
“Over here, we’re getting that chance to be able to drive fast and take sharp turns and feel how the vehicle is going,” said Deputy Janos Zsofka.
Deputy Zsofka is a new hire with the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office.
“I was in the Marine Corps for six years, got out, tried college and then I just wanted to have a purpose and sense of duty again, so tried out with the law enforcement,” said Deputy Zsofka.
As Deputy Zsofka explains, a vital part of being in law enforcement is having familiarity and experience with the vehicles that you are driving.
“Most people drive the speed limit which is good, you’re supposed to, but if you’ve never driven fast before, you don’t understand how the vehicle maneuvers and how it reacts to the certain turns,” said Deputy Zsofka.
“It’s important if someone is going to a pursuit, that you’re confident in your driving skills,” he added.
Officer Connor Foley, a Police Vehicle Operations Course Instructor, who has been with Bozeman Police for more than 10 years, shares the same sentiment.
“When you hire police officers and put them in cars and expect them to know how to handle it at speed, to know how to run with their lights and sirens, you can’t. You have to train, you have to practice it,” said Officer Foley.
“And so this is a really confined course, but what’s great about that is it teaches them, I mean there’s a lot of maneuvering here,” he added.
As Officer Foley explains, the training course includes four different stations, ranging from technical maneuvers at slower speeds to driving at faster speeds and deploying stop sticks.
“There’s people positioned behind cover over there safely, and they are deploying the stop sticks and trying to get them to hit the car and pull them, just as we’re trained to do,” said Officer Foley.
Officer Foley says this specific training at Gallatin High ends Thursday.
Deputy Zsofka says he has already learned a lot.
“I mean just since yesterday my confidence in the vehicle has improved significantly; it’s great,” he said.
