PARIS — According to Paris Police Chief Mike Dailey, a town maintained shooting range on High Street in Paris won’t closed to the public, despite an October 24 Facebook posting by the Paris Police Department indicating it would be because of litter and trash left at the site.

The town-owned sandpit is open to the public and used by the Paris Police Department for training. On October 26, members of the Paris Police Department found boards, wooden targets, tires, and cardboard boxes on the ground. Later that day, a post by police Chief Mike Dailey indicated that the area would be posted and closed to the public.

“This is not a new occurrence and in fact is one that occurs year after year. In year’s past we have solicited the help of the Paris Highway Department to clean up the area, so it is safe for our officers to use. This is a time-consuming task generally involving a bucket loader, so the town incurs the cost of both the fuel to run the machine and the time of the operator, all because of the inconsiderate actions of a few,” wrote Dailey. 

And the trash left at the site isn’t just spent casings; it can include dangerous items like metal shards, broken glass bottles, televisions, and even refrigerators.  But the post on October 29 indicated that while the announcement to shut down the range may have been preemptive, the longstanding safety issues regarding the range still stand.

“The post may have been a knee jerk reaction on my part and for that, I apologize. However, it created a lot of passionate conversations for which I am not sorry…,” Dailey wrote on Facebook.

According to the Facebook post, Dailey’s concerns were that the debris and detritus were a safety concern both for his officers and for the public, indicating that the town could be held liable if someone were injured at the range.

“There was no ulterior motive by the police department; just me simply trying to look out for the safety of the police officers who use the space as well as for the safety of other users, and what the liability could be on our town if someone should get injured while there,” wrote Dailey.

But Dailey indicated that he believes the area should be shut down until questions and concerns are answered.

“Personally, I believe it should be off-limits to all, including our department, until these questions and concerns are answered. This is not a decision for me to make but one that the town as a whole needs to make. The space is within an active gravel pit/mining area and there are rules and regulations for these spaces that a lot of us are not familiar with, including myself, but we need to be before moving forward,” said Dailey.

Dailey wrote that when the range was cleared and cleaned of debris, he hoped improvements to the site could be added, including a covered area with a picnic table where weapons could be loaded or cleaned, and that improving the site would be “a great project” for a senior project, or a group of volunteers.

“We will be looking to get the area cleaned up either by the town or with the help of volunteers in the next couple of weeks,” Dailey wrote in an email.

 

 

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