OXFORD – Auburn police officer Tom Poulin sharply turned the steering wheel to the right and then whipped it to the left, seemingly before the turn was over.
He was in pursuit.
Left, right, left, right, then accelerate.
The “bad guys” didn’t have a chance of escaping.
He radioed ahead. Spike mats were laid. Once the pursued car came to a halt he aimed the center of his car’s grill at the runner’s passenger side taillight at a 45-degree angle.
A state trooper pulled up and sat parallel behind the runner.
“That’s a felony stop,” Poulin said. “The car can’t back up.”
Another successful chase simulation.
Poulin was chasing Sgt. Chris Wainwright and Deputy Brian Landis of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department around a course set up at Oxford Plains Speedway.
They were going 25 miles per hour through the serpentine turns and then 30 mph, maybe 35 mph on some parts of the straightaways.
It was all part of the Emergency Vehicle Operation Course, designed to show law enforcement personnel how to maintain control of their cars during difficult maneuvers.
Poulin said about 300 officers and deputies from agencies through the tri-county area would attend the course during its eight days of operation.
Instruction began Sept. 15 and will end Wednesday.
Each officer began riding through the course with an instructor at 10 miles per hour. The officer then drove the course at the same slow speed.
Officers then got five chances to do the course at full speed: 25 miles per hour. Poulin said 25 miles per hour is plenty fast for the course and that driving it faster, without knocking over all the cones would break the laws of physics.
Officers also got to practice backup maneuvers using their mirrors only in two exercises named the backup serpentine and Dutton’s weave.
Each participant has a grading sheet that notes cones knocked down and other pertinent information.
“It’s not a pass/fail thing,” Poulin said. “It’s all about maintaining control of your car and realizing your limitations with the car.”
Wainwright said the number of fender benders police and sheriffs were involved in were reduced significantly after the first year the course was taught.
Poulin said the training for law enforcement agencies would not be able to be held yearly if not for the Oxford Plains Speedway.
“This is a big plus for us,” Poulin said. “We use the track exclusively for about two weeks and then they even have a maintenance person upkeep the track.”
jsmedley@sunjournal.com
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