Bay St. Louis PD navigates Reticent Warrior Training program

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (WLOX) - Some Coast law enforcement officers spent Tuesday training to be reserved, but ready for whatever they face in the line of duty.

The Bay St. Louis Police Department is going through what’s called Reticent Warrior Training,

“Today is the second day of our fundamental tactical rifle course,” said instructor Vann Winn. “They’re going to get a lot of time on the range, learn how to manipulate their weapons safely in an environment around a lot of other people, so it’s a critical skill for all law enforcement to have.”

The program is organized by current and retired DEA agents. They travel around to different law enforcement agencies to learn techniques in tactical rifle situations.

“Basically, in layman’s terms, it’s being reserved but ready...ready for the engagement,” said Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz. “That’s the philosophy behind Reticent Warrior tactics and what they do. With this, we’re adding the training of exiting your vehicle, how to deploy your rifle while coming out of your vehicle. There’s a lot of thoughts and training going into what the officers are learning out here.”

It’s also a chance for these Bay officers to reengage and get back into their routine after last month’s tragedy where they lost two colleagues in the line of duty.

“When you get bucked off a horse, you have to get back in the saddle. Of course, we were bucked off that horse previously, but we’re back in the saddle again. We’re going to move forward, and that’s what Robb and Estourffe would want,” Schwartz added.

Sgt. Steven Robin and Officer Branden Estorffe were two Bay policemen killed in the line of duty just a week before Christmas.

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