Police And FBI Practice Forced-Entry Techniques At Fairfield Hills

By Andrew Gorosko

Town police, state police, and members of the FBI joined forces this week at Fairfield Hills, where the multitude of doors present in the aging masonry buildings provided the officers with ample opportunity to practice their forced-entry skills required in certain tactical situations encountered by police.

From Monday through Thursday, two buildings at the Fairfield Hills core campus that are scheduled for demolition served as the sites for forced-entry training sponsored by the FBI.

Sergeant Phil Hynes and Sergeant Doug Wisentaner were among the five local police officers who participated in the training at the town-owned Fairfield Hills.

Known as “breacher training,” the exercise trains police to understand the construction, mechanism, and action of doors, and also how to best break through them when necessary, such as hostage situations.

Sgt Wisentaner displayed a 35-pound battering ram that may be useful is certain cases. The large-diameter steel pipe is filled with concrete and has handles on it. It can be used by one person to break down a door, when needed.

Sgt Hynes showed a sizable sledgehammer, as well as a halagen tool. The halagen tool, which also is used by firefighters, has three working surfaces — a pike, an adze, and a fork.

About 25 people participated in forced-entry training on Tuesday at Fairfield Hills. The session included both academic training, as well as practical training.

“The main reason they’re [training] here is the sheer volume of doors and different types of doors,” Sgt Wisentaner said.

Until December 1995, Fairfield Hills served as a state psychiatric hospital. Such facilities’ construction is similar to that of low-security prisons. The first buildings at Fairfield Hills were constructed in the early 1930s.

In August 2004, the town purchased Fairfield Hills’ 189-acre core campus and many massive buildings from the state for $3.9 million. Several of the aging structures, including those which had the forced-entry training sessions, are scheduled for demolition. Only internal doors were used for forced-entry training.

Police cordoned off sections of the core campus where the training was underway.