EVERETT – A renewed debate is taking place over the future of a police shooting range just north of Everett’s Forest Park.
Mayor Ray Stephanson said a new site in a soundproof state-of-the-art facility is needed to strike a balance between the police department and city residents.
“I have a pretty good understanding of the impact that it has on our citizens,” Stephanson said.
He said he will have a report on alternate gun range locations in the city in the coming weeks.
The issue heated up earlier this month when former City Council President Marian Krell told council members at a budget hearing that she would fill the chambers with angry people to get the project on the front burner.
“We’re not anti-police by any means, we just want to know that someday it’s going somewhere else,” Krell said.
Police say they need the range to hone their skills.
Walking along a series of poles sticking out of crisp snow this week, Everett Deputy Police Chief Jerry Burke pointed to a paper target of a man at the end of the 50-meter range.
The target, which was shot up by a member of the department’s SWAT team, had several bullet holes directly through the center of its chest and head.
“You can’t do that without training,” Burke said.
Each of Everett’s 181 officers test at the range four times a year in a moving exercise that requires speed and accuracy.
The facility, which has been around since the 1940s, gives officers the opportunity to train on the clock in a realistic environment, he said.
In snow or rain, day and night, behind cars and bikes, officers shoot paper adversaries, sometimes after running through Forest Park.
They shoot pistols using their strong hands and their weak hands to prepare for gun battles in realistic scenarios.
Because the range is in town, officers can be quickly dispatched back to the streets if they are needed.
Neighbors have complained about the shooting range for decades.
Officers with tight schedules once were be able to use the range Monday through Friday, but days of operations have been limited to less than two days a week.
Krell, who lives in the Forest Preserve subdivision above the range, and other neighbors say the training facility still causes problems.
“We know our police need a place to train and we don’t want to take that away from them,” Krell said. “But if no one ever says anything, no one’s ever going to do anything.”
Stephanson, whose daughter lives in Forest Preserve, said he is pressing for a long-term plan to relocate the shooting facility.
He lived on Federal Avenue for three years, a street that nets frequent complaints from people disturbed by the noise.
Police Chief Jim Scharf said earlier this month that he plans to ban Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents from practicing there this year.
Whatever the outcome, Scharf said the more practice officers have at the range, the more prepared officers will be to protect the public.
“We can’t afford to lose because this is public safety,” he said. “This isn’t a place where officers go to have fun and shoot their weapons.”
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
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