Sheffield Officer Bobby Inman teaches a course on the proper use of chemical mace-type agents
SHEFFIELD – Sheffield Police Officer Bobby Inman, instructor trainer for the proper uses of chemical sprays in law enforcement, believes that the best way to understand how Chemical Mace works is to try it on yourself. Last Thursday, the Sheffield Police Department was host to a class where officers from several North Alabama jurisdictions learned the proper use of non-lethal chemical agents. Among the departments present were Florence PD, Hartselle City PD, Morgan County Sheriff’s Department, Moody City PD, and Fort Payne PD.
The importance of the proper use of chemical sprays is going to continue to grow. One of the big reasons is that the foundation block of non-lethal force, the TASER, is changing. They’re expensive and somewhat controversial, although the non-lethal electric “stun” weapon will remain in most law enforcement departments. “There are some departments that can’t afford that, so they are going to have to rely on chemical sprays.” Inman said.
The class was to show that chemical sprays are proving to be a versatile alternative in a Law Enforcement Officer’s kit. The people who attended the class become certified instructors, and will take their knowledge back to their departments for training sessions.
While training is available to departments from the various brands of sprays, Inman’s class covers the broad range of products and is not brand-specific.The Sheffield Police Department is presently the only department in the in this part of Alabama where such training it available. “I am one of the only old guys left that is teaching this,” Inman explained, “We are the last ones to teach a course in non-brand specific chemical sprays.”
The Quad-Cities Daily was invited to the classroom session where Inman gave a thorough, complete treatise on the proper lawful application of chemical sprays. This is serious business, and Inman believes that it is his duty to give his students the best knowledge base possible.
One part of the training is that the officers must be sprayed in the face with the real thing. After getting a face-full of chemical mace, the trainee must still be able to subdue and handcuff an individual. It is not fun. They are sprayed with the real thing at its full potency and still have to be able to perform their job.
We took some photos of the session and we present them here. As a sidenote, not only were these officers getting a face full of mace, the temperature outside on Thursday was in the 20’s. There were also some onlookers from City Hall, including a couple of City Council members. They chose not to get any closer than they had to. Probably a good decision.
The Quad-Cities Daily Editor, Steve Wiggins contributed to this story.
