New Haven Independent

Blango’s concerns were shared by other Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Park (WEB) residents who attended the Thursday night meeting, which was mediated by Beaver Hills Alderman Moti Sandman of Ward 28. Local cops, led by Lt. Ric Rohloff (pictured), fielded these concerns and proposed a solution: construction of an updated, enclosed, sound-proof structure in the same space as the current firing range. Equipped with floor plans, Rohloff explained that the police department had teamed with 19 other police departments to propose a shared regional facility. Going regional would alleviate the $6 million dollar cost of the project, as well as make it more likely to achieve state or even federal funding.

The new facility would be stocked with technology which would provide more thorough and convenient police training. For example, rather than contaminating Beaver Park soil with lead as they do in the current outdoor range, bullets would be caught by “snail traps,” metal contraptions which spin the shells until they lose momentum and then drop them into environmentally safe receptacles.

Many complaints from residents have revolved around nighttime firing practice, which is required by the state in order to prepare officers for low-lit shooting. In the new, enclosed facility, nighttime lighting could be simulated at any time of day, making life easier for both policemen and neighborhood residents.

Nan Bartow, a member of Friends of Beaver Pond Park, represented the environmental angle at Thursday night’s meeting. Her primary fear was that lead contamination in the soil would seep into the lake at Beaver Pond Park. If this has already happened, not much can be done—water samples will be taken soon. Bartow asked the police department to relocate the range, and if that was not possible, to work with the community to dispose of waste in a responsible manner and to give a piece land back to the park so that a trail around the pond could be completed.

Peaches Quinn (pictured) of Ellsworth Avenue was more direct in her request to relocate the firing range. Upset that the police department had jumped straight to reconstruction plans rather than thoroughly exploring relocation options, Quinn pledged herself to a community task force to find a suitable location for the new facility.

“We are going to partner with you,” she declared. “It’ll be a facility campaign, somewhat like a gubernatorial campaign.” For Quinn, solving the noise issue by enclosing the firing range is only the beginning. Environmental and psychological effects upon the community must be taken into account.

Alderman Sandman supported Quinn, asking the police department for a list of alternative firing range sites by the next meeting in the spring. Though he seemed impressed by the Department’s proposal for an enclosed range, Sandman stressed the importance of exhausting all relocation options before deciding to rebuild. “We have a group of highly intelligent people at this table,” he said, referring to the citizens pushing for relocation. “They are not just going to accept a ‘no.’”