Civilians Attend Class At Pittsburgh Police & Fire Training Academy

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A group of about 20 civilians attended class Tuesday night at the Pittsburgh Police and Fire Training Academy in East Liberty.

It was called the Commander's Cabinet. After classroom discussions, students were allowed to take part in a laser exercise using real firearms made safe after being re-fitted with lasers, computers and videos.

The civilians were given a chance to walk in a police officer's shoes and make life-or-death decisions regarding the use of deadly force.

Lou Ann Zwieryznski, the principal at Pittsburgh Westinghouse Academy, took part in an exercise involving a man armed with a gun who gets out of his car and holds a woman hostage.

In the mock drill, Zwieryznski shot the woman hostage in the head. Asked if she wanted to be police officer, she said, no, she much prefers her job as principal.

"Being a policeman is stressful, and I'm sure officers take their jobs very seriously," she said.

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Range Master John Lubawski, one of the instructors, said, "You've got to stop an incident as quickly as possible. That's why shooting at a suspect's knees, arms or legs is often not the best way to handle a dangerous situation."

Tuesday night's session was the third such class for civilians at the Training Academy. They hold as many as four classes for police officers focusing on "judgmental training."