Police shoot to win at Phila. contest

A team of 12 University Police sharpshooters won first place in the Philadelphia Prison match, and two other officers placed first in individual classes, University officer and team member Mike Sylvester said Tuesday. Sergeant Thomas Messner won the class A division of the contest, and Officer Al Sulpizio won the class B division, Sylvester said. The match, held last month, consisted of 60 rounds of fire at targets as far away as 50 yards, Sylvester said, adding that the officers were put under more stress because each round had a time limit. Sylvester said that the stressful set up of these contests gives officers training for real events they might encounter on the street. "I think [going to matches] helps all the officers," Sylvester said. "It teaches everybody how to control themselves under a stressful stituation." "Loading your gun becomes a habit," he added. "When you're out on the street, you're not going to sit there and think, 'My God, where are my bullets?' It's just going to come naturally. You're going to load and be ready to go again." Officer Mike Paul, another of the team competitors, said that firing a gun involves many deliberate and delicate adjustments. "Shooting is a fine art," Paul said. "A lot of people think it's so easy to fire a gun. The reality is there's a lot of physics and a lot of practice and training that goes behind [firing]." Sylvester said that many people think shooting is a natural ability, but that there is more involved than instinct and a steady hand. "You just don't pick a gun up, point it and shoot it and expect to hit something," he said. Both Sylvester and Paul competed in the same Philadelphia Prison shooting match last year, in which the University Police Department won three trophies, including one for second place overall. Paul said that many of the other departments competing in the match did not know that University Police were "real police officers." "The other teams competing against us said, 'Who are these U Penn guys?' " Paul said. "And then we walked away with three trophies." Paul added that their competition consisted of teams that probably enter 15 or 20 matches a year. "Our department has a lot of very good shooters," Sylvester said. "These are the people who go out on their own and practice and participate in other matches." Sylvester added that he hopes to persuade the Police Department to support a professional sharpshooter team, which would compete in matches throughout the state. "Right now we're all volunteers," Sylvester said. "The officers are buying their own amunition. They're paying for the matches themselves, and they're providing their own equipment." "We hope by showing up with one or two trophies, we'll be able to put a proposal in and get the department to back us," he said. The same team of sharpshooters, which competed in the Philadelphia Prison match, plans to attend the Graterford Prison match later this month.

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