Crabtree church social hall temporarily turned into sheriff's deputy training center

St. Bartholomew Parish’s Marian Hall in the tiny village of Crabtree has been turned into a temporary law enforcement training center through Friday.

Some 74 Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department deputies are using the hall for special scenario training by a security expert from Golden Seal Enterprises in Winchester, Va.

Karl Dear was hired for approximately $2,000 by Sheriff James Albert’s office to conduct five, three-hour training assemblies in groups of 10 to 14 deputies per session through Friday. Chief Deputy Sheriff John Rock, a Crabtree resident and St. Bartholomew parishioner, made arrangements for the department to host the training at the hall — normally a site for traditional wedding receptions, luncheons and bingos.

The curriculum is focused on firearm safety, disarming individuals and search techniques.

“With the number of attempted escapes by inmates we’ve had recently, including two involving us and another most recently involving Southwest Greensburg police in the past year at Excela Hospital in Greensburg, plus an increasing number of cases of resisting arrest, this couldn’t happen at a better time,” Albert said.

Dear initially questioned each of the deputies on how they approach suspects during traffic stops. He recommended the best course of action is to closely watch the actions of the drivers.

He noted that routine stops usually result in drivers reaching for a glove box or wallet to retrieve identification. If the motorist is a person who works law enforcement or security who may possess a firearm, deputies can expect hands to be crossed across the steering wheel to avoid alarm if a weapon is in a vehicle.

“If the hands are just dropped by his side, his head is down with no movement … I’m immediately thinking something may happen. It’s better when we get out of our vehicles that we have a plan,” he said.

There should be multiple plans and deputies should “be ready for any situation because when in your lives has anything gone exactly according to plan? You need to be prepared with second and third plans,” Dear said.

He served for 8 years as a U.S. Marine, first as an infantryman and later on the All-Marine Corps shooting team. After serving in active duty, Dear earned a degree in criminal justice and was a federal police officer prior to becoming an instructor.

Dear had the deputies pair up for a review of pat down techniques.

For suspects who attempt to grab a firearm holster while in custody, Dear recommended not backing off, but going in the same direction of the suspect’s motion.

“I never heard that before in my training, but it gives you a few more seconds to react and cover up your firearm,” Albert said.

He also recommended if both a suspect’s and officer’s hands are covering a firearm holster, an officer can use the force of a hip thrust with the holstered hip to attempt to secure the firearm.

Last Aug. 25, a sheriff’s deputy was assisted by a hospital visitor in retaining control of his firearm when a county prison inmate being treated at the Greensburg hospital attempted to grab the deputy’s handgun.

On May 5, a burglary suspect also being treated at the hospital after his arrest by South Greensburg police attempted to grab a patrolman’s firearm in the emergency room. The incident resulted in Excela temporarily activating an “Active Shooter Code” that involved the hospital evacuating the area. The code was canceled after the suspect, Cory J. Lonsinger, 30, of Johnstown, was subdued with the assistance of Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg police.

“I’m not sure what’s causing the increase in these type of incidents, but I think it partially has to be due to lack of respect for law enforcement,” said Albert, who was a district judge for 26 years and served as a Greensburg police officer.

After his preliminary hearing on escape and aggravated assault charges, Lonsinger blamed his actions on a methamphetamine addiction.