CIVILIANS GET LOOK AT DEPUTIES' LIVES.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

EAST LOS ANGELES - You're one of the first sheriff's deputies at the scene of a heated domestic dispute.

You walk in with your partners and see a man holding a baby and a hysterical woman yelling at him. The man becomes enraged when you enter, reaches behind his back, pulls out a handgun and points it right at you.

Do you shoot the man, even though he's holding a baby, or draw your weapon and give him a warning before using lethal force?

Faced with this split-second, life-and-death decision, three Santa Clarita residents fired about 30 rounds at the man, striking him and the infant.

The exercise was part of a Sheriff's Department training course that uses enlarged video images, a computer program and laser guns to train deputies to make these kinds of decisions in real life.

About 30 local residents tried their hand at the training exercise through the Santa Clarita sheriff's station's semiannual Community Academy, held last week at the Sheriff's Department weapons training facility in East Los Angeles.

``I felt bad because he's holding a baby, but I had a clear shot so I took it,'' said Rich Keating, 66, of Saugus, a retired county firefighter.

Training instructor Ernie Vander Poorten told the group members they made the right choice in firing on the man. However, he said deputies are expected to be proficient enough with their side arms to hit only their intended target.

``We have to react to the level of threat,'' Vander Poorten said. ``If we see the weapon, we can shoot. Hitting the man and not the baby is where our training comes in.''

Though deputies undergo rigorous weapons training and become very good at hitting targets, their performance level drops significantly when they are suddenly confronted with an armed man pointing a gun at them, said Deputy Ed Corrette, a weapons instructor for the Sheriff's Department.

On average, police officers hit their intended target only 18 percent of the time, he said, while sheriff's deputies perform somewhat better, hitting their target 23 percent of the time.

``The reason for that is stress,'' Corrette said. ``Your heart rate goes up, your blood pressure goes up, and you just don't perform as well.''

Vander Poorten added that the average officer-involved shooting is over in 2.5 seconds.

``It takes three-quarters of a second just for your mind to register to get your gun,'' he said. ``When it happens, it happens so fast you can't believe it's happening before it's over.''

In another videotaped scenario in the training exercise, participants were asked to respond to a reported break-in at a warehouse.

The ``deputies'' entered the warehouse with guns drawn and began searching for the intruders. As they turned a corner, one of the suspects emerged in a doorway aiming a gun at them. The ``deputies'' immediately begin firing and didn't stop until the man fell over.

As the ``deputies'' laughed and congratulated themselves, another gunman emerged and fired on them.

``What we learn from this is that you can never let your guard down,'' Vander Poorten said.

This week's Community Academy session, week number three of seven in the academy, also offered residents the chance to shoot a 9 mm Beretta, the side arm issued to sheriff's deputies.

There were several first-time shooters in the group who entered the target range in jitters and left giggling.

``It's really cool to know I'm capable of doing something like that,'' said Stella Sylvester, a 30-year-old nurse from Agua Dulce. ``I'd definitely do it again.''

Sixty-nine-year-old Tom Haner said he hadn't fired a gun in 15 years and could barely see the sights.

``I got a cluster of three, though, so I guess I haven't forgotten how to do it,'' he said.

Before the target-shooting exercise, the participants got a brief refresher course in firearms safety and an extensive look at the Sheriff's Department's arsenal of firearms, rubber-bullet guns and pepper spray and tear gas devices.

Holding up a 12-gauge shotgun, Corrette explained that the weapon doesn't have to be fired to get people's attention.

``All you have to do is walk into a room full of people and go like this,'' he said, chambering a round in the shotgun barrel. ``Unless they're stupid or drunk, you'll get their attention.''

Residents enrolled in the Community Academy say the weekly workshops offer them a glimpse into a side of law enforcement most people never see.

``The Sheriff's Department is judged by the media, but most people don't see what happens when the deputies go up against a criminal,'' said Nick Lentini, 32, a member of the Santa Clarita sheriff's station Community Advisory Committee. ``The academy really lets people in the community see what the Sheriff's Department goes through every day.''

The academy was initiated by the advisory committee three years ago and is funded with annual donations from the Santa Clarita Booster Club, said Lt. Carl Deeley of the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Staion.

``A lot of people get most of their information about law enforcement from TV shows,'' Deeley said. ``But even those real-life cops shows don't show all the things that go on behind the scenes. Most people don't realize what it takes to accomplish what we do.''

Several previous academy enrollees have been so impressed, they have become reserve deputies and station volunteers, Deeley added.

Other topics covered in the academy include homicide investigations, gangs, SWAT team operations and K-9 search and rescue missions.

The next Community Academy will be scheduled in spring 2001.

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(color) Ed Corrette, a weapons instructor for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, shows a rifle to residents.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News