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Here’s a department with aprogressive attitude towardsupplying its officers with thetraining and equipment theyneed to get The Job done.

By Sean P. Egen ■ Photos by Ichiro Nagata

inset photos: Ed Burns

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aybe it’s due to the laid-backvibe this beach communitygives off, but there’s definitelysomething different about theway the police department ofSanta Monica, Calif., does busi-ness. It’s not that it’s overly easy-going, although the department

is deeply involved in community events andplaces an emphasis on providing quality serviceto the city’s roughly 90,000 residents. It’s morethat SMPD, like the city of Santa Monica itself,seems to possess a progressive, do-what-needs-to-be-done-to-be-the-best type of attitude. Avision, if you will.

You can see it in the state-of-the-art weaponryand equipment used by the 220 officers that makeup the department. A review of the extensivetraining every officer receives, as well as the chal-lenging qualifications he or she must meet,makes it even clearer. But should you require fur-ther convincing that the Santa Monica PoliceDepartment is a visionary law enforcementorganization, just peruse its “Year In Review 2006”report (2007 has yet to be printed as of the writingof this article), under the heading “Vision.”

Yes, the department actually bothered to putits vision in writing, a sure sign this organizationindeed possesses one.

Santa Monica PD’s vision is pretty well summedup with this sentence from its 2006 report— espe-cially its philosophy on training and equipping itsofficers: “We strive to be recognized for our strongservice orientation, progressive development ofall our human resources and our application ofemerging technologies.”

This vision statement isn’t just a politically cor-rect-sounding string of words like you’ll find in alot of public relations fluff pieces; SMPD practiceswhat it preaches.

“Progressive development” includes the inno-vative, ongoing training every Santa Monicapolice officer receives. And the “application ofemerging technologies” is evident in the depart-ment’s squad cars and on the duty belts of its offi-cers— every SMPD patrol car rack is outfittedwith a 12 ga. Remington 870 shotgun and a ColtM4 Commando rifle, and every new recruit is

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issued a .45 or 9mm Heckler & Koch USP duty pistol.(Officers also have the option of purchasing their ownpistol in either caliber from a limited number of depart-ment-approved manufactures.)

And all of these weapons come standard-issue withSureFire WeaponLights attached: the shotguns and car-bines with SureFire dedicated forend lights, the HK USPswith X200s. These lights aren’t just for show, either; SantaMonica police officers train and qualify in lowlight con-ditions. And while every officer has the option to removethe SureFire X200 from the rail of his or her duty pistol,they are strongly encouraged to leave it on.

Because the Santa Monica Police Department alsopossesses enough vision to recognize that the majorityof officer assaults and felonious killings occur duringthe hours of darkness. (According to FBI statistics,between 1997 and 2006, 46.7 percent of assaults on lawenforcement officers, and 42.6 percent of feloniouskillings, occurred between the hours of 4:01 p.m. andmidnight alone.)

“We greatly encourage them [graduating cadets], afterthey come out of the academy, to keep their X200 on theirpistol,” says SMPD’s Weapons Training Officer DaveChieruzzi. “Some officers have found out, when theycome down to do their qualifications, that it can be diffi-cult to manipulate their weapon during stoppage or mal-function drills [in lowlight conditions] with a flashlight intheir hand.”

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Low Light QualsSanta Monica police officers must qualify in a

lowlight environment a minimum of three times ayear. There are eight basic annual qualifications:pistol, rifle, and shotgun— each in a lighted and low-light environment— plus backup- and off-duty-gunqualifications.

And Chieruzzi, a 23-year veteran of SMPD, runsthem all. Along with developing and facilitatingtraining and qualifications, Chieruzzi’s duties alsoinclude helping to select new weaponry and equip-ment for the department, and maintaining thedepartment’s weaponry. He’s also a member ofSMPD’s SWAT team, considered collateral duty, but itrequires an additional 16 hours of training each

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month— plus additional qualifications.It’s a lot of work, but Chieruzzi loves his job, espe-

cially considering he enjoys the support of a policedepartment that places a strong emphasis ontraining and in outfitting its officers with top-notchequipment to do the job right.

Chieruzzi attributes the roots of the department’sbest-gear-best-training philosophy to the 1997North Hollywood shootout. During this infamousgunfight, two bank robbers, armed with fully auto-matic rifles, outgunned local Southern Californialaw enforcement officers for nearly an hour, injuring17 people before they were finally stopped, bothgunmen losing their lives in the battle.

“Prior to this shooting, officers were basicallyarmed with sidearms and 12 gauge shotguns, which

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everyone saw was ineffective,” says Chieruzzi. “Ourdepartment saw a need to have superior firepower,so they went out and purchased 10 semi-automaticColt rifles, equipped them with scopes, and trained10 officers on patrol, who then carried them in theirtrunks. They were dedicated rifles to those officers.”

Ten officers soon turned into 20, and then,according to Chieruzzi, another shooting near theLos Angeles International Airport in 2000, whichresulted in an LAPD officer being killed at close rangeby an AK-47, prompted Santa Monica PD to takethings even further.

“We realized that every officer needed the avail-ability of superior firepower. The administrationagreed, so we purchased a number of shorter-bar-reled Colt rifles that are dedicated to patrol cars.”

The majority of the department’s Colt rifles aresemi-automatic; however, several have full-autocapability. The department also has on-hand anumber of 5.56mm Heckler & Koch G36 sub-com-pacts, which only come in full-auto.

“We train in full-auto mode, but we generally don’tuse it— full auto is not really applicable to an urbanpolice force environment,” says Chieruzzi, alludingto the fact that police officers must account for everysingle round they fire.

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ranges up to 25 yards, and its easily controllable envi-ronment allows light levels to be manipulated and“stress” to be induced, a word that causes Chieruzzi’smouth to form a sadistic smirk.

“Trust me,” he says, “when they get in there, thetimes are nothing they can sit back and relax on.”

The times to which Chieruzzi refers are part, along

with accuracy, of the minimum performance standardshe’s developed for each qualification. In yet anotherprogressive step, SMPD has moved away from bullseyequalifications and made the emphasis about placingaccurate shots in a silhouette target, in a designatedamount of time.

These times are set by Chieruzzi, who determinesthem by taking several officers of varying skill levels andrunning them through the drills. He then comparestheir times and calculates a reasonable average, estab-lishing a minimum performance standard for eachqualification. Chieruzzi even tests himself on thesestandards, to make sure they’re fair.

The drills include accelerated pairs, reloads, stop-page/malfunction drills, shooting from the low-readyposition, and drawing from the holster and firing, just toname a few— all in lighted and lowlight environments.And if even one round hits outside the silhouette targetduring qualifying, an officer must redo that particularqualification. So, in essence, Santa Monica PoliceDepartment’s qualifications are 100 percent.

“Any half-reputable arms instructor can teachsomeone to shoot a bullseye target,” says Chieruzzi.

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However, before any new officer gets their hands onany of these weapons, they first have a date withWeapons Training Officer Chieruzzi. After completingsix months of academy training at the Orange CountySheriff’s Academy, every SMPD graduating cadetspends 16 hours with Chieruzzi, where he works withthem to reinforce and perfect their pistol and shotgunskills and gives them an introduction to the Colt rifle.

Of course, that’s just the beginning. They, like everyother Santa Monica police officer, will receive ongoingtraining and be required to complete each of the gru-eling mandatory qualifications.

Range FacilitiesJust a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean, the modern

Santa Monica Police Department station houses its ownstate-of-the-art indoor shooting facility. Located in thebuilding’s basement, this underground range featuresmovable targets, controllable lighting, soundproofing,and two feet of rubber (made from ground-up automo-bile tires) piled against the far wall to catch the frangible

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(no lead) projectiles from the clean ammo the depart-ment uses down here.

Against the near wall is a large bank of Colt rifles,each outfitted with a SureFire M500 Series dedicatedforend WeaponLight. These rifles are used strictly fortraining; they’ll never hit the streets.

This modern facility can accommodate exercises at

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cises that don’t seem terribly rele-vant at the time, could one day playa critical role in an officer’s perform-ance of his or her duty.

100 Yards With A USP

On April 9, 2001, while off duty,Dawson was involved in an incidentthat required him to subdue ashooter armed with a .357 Magnumat an extended range. The suspecthad already fired several roundsinside a local Airborne Expressbuilding, and one round outside,

and was walking calmly down thestreet, gun in hand.

Unable to get a clear closer-rangeshot because of the number ofbystanders, Dawson was faced withthe prospect of the suspect disap-pearing down a nearby alley andgetting away. That’s when he drewupon his training to make animpressive 219 foot shot with hisHK USP, hitting the suspect in thethigh, incapacitating him, andallowing him to be taken into cus-tody without further incident.

“I was able to make such a shotbecause I’d recently receivedtraining in lobbing rounds at targetson a hillside,” says InvestigatorDawson. “At the time, it was some-thing I thought I’d never have touse.” But, as Dawson is the first toadmit, it was his training that gavehim the confidence to even attemptsuch a shot on that day.

As the department’s weaponstrainer, Chieruzzi is constantlyresearching outside trainingcourses and new equipment. “Partof my job is, I guess it’d be called

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“But when you induce stress, the scores go down. In lawenforcement, we’re accountable for every round we dis-charge, so if we miss, we’re accountable for where thatround goes. Do you really want an officer out there whocan only shoot 70 percent?”

For longer-range training, the department leases anoutdoor facility in Santa Clarita, Calif., approximately 35miles north of Santa Monica. Having two facilities at itsdisposal gives the department the capability to train ata variety of distances and in different environments, toset up a multitude of training scenarios and situations,and to conduct Simunitions (non-lethal cartridges thatfire colorful wax bullets) training. It also affordsChieruzzi the luxury of separating training from quali-fying, something the man firmly believes in.

“There have been times where officers havetrained for five hours in the hot sun and then beenexpected to perform at 110 percent after that,” saysChieruzzi. “They’re spent, and they’re tired. So I’veseparated the two. All of the qualifications are donedown here. So when we go out for eight-hour days,

that’s nothing but training.”Concentrating entirely on training, without having to

worry about qualifications the same day, allows SantaMonica officers to focus more intently on the lesson athand, which, in theory anyway, gives the training abetter chance to sink in. And, as SMPD InvestigatorChris Dawson learned firsthand, all training, even exer-

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switching, which allows an operator to activate the lightwithout having to search or fumble for the switch,something no officer can afford to do in a critical situa-tion where seconds count.

But ergonomics isn’t the only thing he considers inchoosing equipment, especially given that he’s thedepartment’s armorer and primary gunsmith.

“I’m looking at the manufacturer’s reputation, howthey back their product and, more and more,ergonomics,” Chieruzzi elaborates, “such as pistol gripsthat will accommodate a variety of different sizedhands. I also look for reliability. For example, on aweapon, is it something that’s going to take a gunsmithto repair, or does it have factory drop-in parts? That’sone reason why the HK USP was selected. Everything isdrop-in, no custom fitting. And in the case of the USP,the gun simply doesn’t break. The most I’ve replaced isa couple of mainsprings.”

This same reliability and ease-of-maintenance cri-

teria clearly played a role in the selection of the depart-ment’s sound suppressors as well. Although sound sup-pressors are not yet standard-issue on the carbines ormachine guns used by SMPD officers, the .308 DPMSPanther sniper rifles used by the department’s SWATteam come equipped with SureFire FA762SS Fast-Attach® sound suppressors, notoriously reliable andlow maintenance.

Of course, as progressive and forward thinking asSMPD is, and given the incidences of hearing loss withlaw enforcement professionals, other weapons couldwind up suppressed in the future. Especially withSMPD’s history of taking a proactive approach. WhileChieruzzi typically initiates proposals for new equip-ment and sends them up the chain of command forconsideration, sometimes the initiatives come fromabove. At least that’s how things worked with thedepartment’s Taser program, according to Chieruzzi.

“We started our Taser program three or four years

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research and development. I lookfor the bigger, better mousetrap,” heelaborates.

When he can, Chieruzzi attendstraining courses sponsored byother departments and organiza-tions. While there, he picks thetrainers’ brains, then figures out,when applicable, ways to incorpo-rate the training he’s received intohis own courses.

But with qualifications aloneeating up eight months of his year,that doesn’t leave Chieruzzi a wholelot of time for research and personaltraining. Still, he manages to get outwhen he can. His most recentouting was to SHOT Show, in LasVegas, where he picked up over 30pounds of literature and spent sometime at the SureFire booth, checkingout their new products for 2008. Itseems Chieruzzi is a not only a fanof SureFire’s weapon-mountedlights, but of their small, powerfulflashlights as well.

“When I first came into lawenforcement [28 years ago], theywere teaching us how to operate afull-sized flashlight with a shotgun,

and it was just cumbersome,”Chieruzzi explains. “They didn’thave small, two-cell lights backthen. It’s more advantageous tohave a light that’s small andergonomically designed to be usedwith a weapon.”

SMPD officers are free to select aprimary flashlight of their choice,but Chieruzzi is a firm believer thatevery officer should also carry atleast one backup, preferably a small,powerful, disposable-battery flash-light. He particularly likes theergonomics of SureFire flashlightsfeaturing a rubber-ringedCombatGripTM, which he feelsallows an operator to better manip-ulate his or her weapon whileholding the light.

Gear That MakesThe Grade

Ergonomics is high onChieruzzi’s list in selecting equip-ment for the department, which ispart of the reason SMPD’s weaponsare outfitted with SureFireWeaponLights. He appreciates theircleanly integrated, intuitive

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ago, with a handful of M26 Tasersthat officers were trained on andcould check out for patrol. Then theX26 came out, and we startedtraining on that and had a few thatofficers could check out. The chiefsaw a need that not just a few, butall, officers should have one. So wemade a proposal and acquired thefunding, and now we’re in theprocess of outfitting every officer inthe department with an X26 Taser.”

More Resources,Less Crime?

So, is all of this training andequipment helping the city ofSanta Monica to keep its crime sta-tistics down? Unfortunately, it’s noeasy task, if not impossible, todraw a direct correlation betweenthe two— especially given thecity’s complex and constantlychanging character.

Santa Monica is the terminus ofInterstate 10, which starts inJacksonville, Fla., and runs througheight states and hundreds of cities,so the city gets a huge influx of visi-tors (and dreamers coming toCalifornia to seek their fame andfortune) each year.

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The Santa Monica Pier, the sur-rounding beaches, and the ThirdStreet Promenade are all majorattractions for local SouthernCalifornians as well. And, like manybeach cities in California, SantaMonica has a large homeless popu-lation and experiences a fairamount of gang activity, especiallyspillover from surrounding com-munities. All of these factors con-tribute to making Santa Monica aunique community to police.

That said, the city’s UCR(Uniform Crime Reporting) totalsdecreased by 4 percent from 2005 to2006 (again, 2007 stats are not yetavailable as of this writing). Was anyof that decrease due to the depart-ment’s progressive philosophytoward training or outfitting its offi-cers with the best equipment?

Who can really say? But onething’s for certain— quality trainingand the best gear isn’t going to makeSanta Monica police officers anyless prepared or effective in the per-formance of their duties.

Besides, if you ever hope to seeresults, you’ve got to have vision.And Santa Monica definitelyhas an eye to the future.

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