Annual Blue Steel Competition

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI)-

They fired their rifles…..They fired their pistols……And the fired their shotguns….And finally they competed in a team challenge course….It was all part of the 13th annual Blue Steel Challenge at North Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Center in Tupelo, which was one of the sponsors of the event. The other sponsors were the Tupelo Police Department and Crimestoppers of Northeast Mississippi.
“It allows the law enforcement officers to hone their skills, to have some comradery with each other and renew old friendships that they’ve known and met for the 13 years we’ve been having it and they all work together and come together when it’s necessary. And it allows them to have a chance to have a little time off and have a little fun and enjoy themselves.”  said Bill Allen.
“We’ve got state federal and local officers that are here and it’s just comradery, it’s a time for us to get out here and just see each other because we don’t get to see each other a lot, and just tell old war stories and talk to each other and have a lot of fun.” said Deputy Chief Allan Gilbert.
One of today’s participants was George Brown from Starkville, who works for the Mississippi Agriculture and Livestock Theft Bureau.
“It’s just good practice, it’s good training for your work and I’ve probably been shooting for around 20 years. It’s just good to get together with different departments, a good brotherhood because everybody works together and basically does the same thing in law enforcement. ”
Dave Gosse is a firearms instructor for the Northeast Mississippi Community College Police Department in Booneville. He says it is very important that he is proficient with firearms.
“We’re more hands on with the students, meaning that we’re shoulder to shoulder with the students on a daily basis as opposed to a regular agency where they’re in their car and they might have to make a traffic stop or get out of the business and have contact with somebody, we’re right in the middle of them.” said George Brown.
One of the sponsors of this event of course is Crimestoppers of Northeast Mississippi which plays an essential role in helping bring bad guys to justice.
“We have an 800 line 1-800-773-TIPS that people can call if they’re aware of criminal activity of kind can report that activity. They’re then assigned a number and that number is sent back to coordinator deputy chief Allan Gilbert who then farms it out to whichever particular department it might be in, that’s the ten county area that we cover in Northeast Mississippi.” said David Gosse.

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