Hillsborough Community College LE Academy

[unknownsld]

I am applying for the Hillsborough Community College Law Enforcement Academy soon. As I was looking over the webpage for the Academy program costs, I came up with a few questions. They state on the sight:
“The purchase price for a new handgun can range from $300.00 to $700.00 depending on the manufacturer, model, and caliber. All handguns must be approved by the College for use in the Law Enforcement Officer training programs. Certain restrictions apply. Applicants should obtain approval from the College before purchasing a handgun for training.”
Does anyone know if the Taurus 24/7 Pro 9mm is approved or not? What about having a laser sight on the handgun as well?

Also, I was wondering about the approved weapon holster and duty belt for Hillsborough Community College Law Enforcement Academy, is there a Level III holster for the Taurus if it is approved. What about the size of the targets at the shooting range and how they score your shooting to determine if you passed or not. Any help would be great, thank you.

[FL Trooper]

I went to this academy back in 03. Then you could carry just about anything as long as you got it approved first. But things may have changed, so call the academy to find out. When I was there they would not let you have a laser sight or flashlight on your weapon. Of course you dont need one in the academy either. When and if you get hired you can start worrying about qualifying with laser sights and flashlights and such.

Qualification is a forty round course of fire, as approved by FDLE, shooting at silhouette targets. Center mass and head shots count. A hit is a point, need a minimum of 32 to qualify.

[Mac Attack]

Im not sure about the taurus 9mm but most of the guys in my class have Glock 22(.40), and the Glock 17 (9mm). And them some are using the Smith & Wesson M&P 40 that TPD is using now. They will give you a list of approved firearms you can use. as far as laser sights or tac lights you are not aloud to use them. For the duty belt most of use have the nylon blackhawk duty belt & blackhawk level III holster which is an awesome holster, you can also use the safariland holster which is also good but i believe its more expensive. I do not think they make those holster for the taurus but I might be wrong. as far as targets you wont need them they provide the targets. The course of fire is a possible 48 and you must get at least 39. You will shoot from 25, 15, 7, & 3 yards. hopefully this helps...im in the shooting block right now so if you need any help PM me

[unknownsld]

Thank's I appreciate the replies. As far as the Taurus that I have, in all respects it is very much like the Smith & Wesson M&P 40 and the Glocks 22 and 17 in looks and functionality. The only significant difference that I notice right off hand is the design to the grip and the way you field strip the handgun. Also my Taurus may only be a 9mm but it carries 17+1 rounds compared to the Smith & Wesson M&P 40's and the Glock 22's 15+1 rounds. This is a link to the exact model that I currently carry with my CWL: http://www.shoot-straight.com/p-357-247.aspx So in all honesty, I do not see why the Taurus would not be one the list for approved handguns.

As far as the targets go, I use the range at Shoot Straight in Tampa off 301 and MLK. If you have ever been to their range, the silhouette targets they use are fairly small, probably the equivalent in size to that of a 5 year olds size. One of the guys that work at the store told me they have to qualify each month to carry their sidearm and use a different silhouette target that is roughly 4 times the size of the targets they sell. So I was curious if the police academy uses the larger silhouette targets as well. If they use the same sized targets Shoot Straight sells, well at this point in time I will not be able to pass the range qualification at 20 yards.

[Mac Attack]

if you comfortable with that gun then use it just make sure that the instructors are ok with the midsize model and make sure they dont want a full size model I dont remember what was said at the beginning. The targets are the 25 yard silhouette's other then that im not sure how else to explain them. as far as you not being able to qualify you will have the opportunity to work with an instructor that has been doing this for like 50 years. he has taught most of the instructors that youll have for the academy. If you want any advise start now trying to get more accurate. Practice on focusing on the front sight looking through the rear sights. dont focus on the target just the front sight and where you want to bullet to go...other than that i could recommend making sure you dont anticipate and pull the trigger using light pressure. other than that you will learn alot of stuff during the block...its alot of fun. I dont know your shooting background but these were just a couple of things that helped me.

[unknownsld]

I am not a bad shot, just shooting at a target that is about half two thirds my size (keep in mind I am not a very big guy myself only weighing 160 lbs at 5'10"). The silhouette itself is about 12 1/2 inches wide by 1 ft and 8 1/2 inches high. Here is a picture of the target that they sell held up next to me. Obviously, at 20 yards away that is going to be a very small target.

As far as my shooting background, I am very familiar with the M-16/M-4/AR15, M240 Bravo and M249 SAW. As far as pistols go, my MOS did not allow us to carry sidearms unless we were special ops which I never was unfortunately.

[unknownsld]

I thought this was interesting and that everyone might be interested in seeing this.http://www.genitron.com/HandgunDB/DB...2=2314&ID3=689