Public Safety Program Weighs in on Fake Firearm Trend
Several alarming incidents in local communities over the summer
A recent incident at an Appleton pool is drawing attention to the challenge of identifying a fake gun from the real thing.
Earlier this month, police responded to Appleton’s Erb Park Pool for reports of someone carrying what appeared to be a handgun, where they found a juvenile with a black handgun-style BB gun and the other was a black BB rifle.
How do law enforcement train to respond to incidents like this? WLUK-TV recently explored this topic and turned to FVTC’s Public Safety program to lend its expertise.
“It is going to be a very dynamic response,” said Cory McKone, associate dean of Public Safety. “Officers are going to have to make decisions quickly in that dynamic environment and being able to discern whether or not a firearm is fake or real becomes incredibly difficult.”