The shooting range in the basement of Sarnia Police Headquarters has been updated to enhance safety.
Manager of Planning, Policy, Fleet and Facilities Jason Dale said the work was part of ongoing efforts to comply with the occupational health and safety act.
"We recently conducted some air quality testing for the presence of lead, and it revealed that the concentrations were in excess of the permissible limits under the act," said Dale.
He said they started investigating options to replace the existing range equipment after receiving those results.
"Unfortunately, because our range is very limited in size, there really was only one option, to upgrade our antiquated backstop," he said. "The original backstop we believe was from the 1950s. It was used when it was put in this building. This range was commissioned in 1989, so the equipment was actually used when it was put in the building."
Sarnia Police gun range. 4 April 2023. (Photo by Melanie Irwin)
Dale said the old steel backstop has been removed and replaced with a new, modern, rubber style backstop.
"When the bullet strikes the backstop it doesn't explode and dramatically reduces the amount of lead going into the air and thus, is much safer for the officers when firing," Dale said.
He added said the range is used weekly by officers.
"Every police officer has to requalify their firearm [training] at least once per year. So, at certain times of the year it's used everyday, other times it would be on a weekly basis," he said.
He said about $100,000 was budgeted for the upgrades.
"There's a new sheet of steel that goes at the back, just as a safety barrier, and then rubber blocks will go ahead of it," he explained. "So, the idea is that the bullet strikes the rubber and gets encapsulated in the rubber, rather than striking just a steel backstop and spraying lead into the air."
Dale said it's much safer for the officers, who are mandated by the Ontario government to use similar, or the same, ammunition that they would carry on the street.
