Several local law enforcement officials are active in the Kentucky Peace Officers’ Association Firearms Championship Series. Recently the organization held regional competitions in Middlesboro and Lexington and those were won by Middlesboro Police Chief Jeff Sharpe and Bell County Jailer Rex Miller, respectively.

Miller was the only local officer to participate in the Lexington regional last week. He took first place with a score of 468-12x.

Last month Miller placed third in the Middlesboro regional with a 432-8x. Sharpe won that competition with an impressive 477-12x and MPD officer Josh Burchett was second with a 441-5x. Rounding out the top five were Jeff Dierk of the Kentucky National Guard with a 404-3x and MPD’s Mike Hensley with a 403-7x.

In the retired law enforcement class, Harold Womack took first place with a 418-6x. Don Busic was second with a 395-12x and Michael Orr third with a 386-2x.

The KPOA Championship Series uses current NRA police pistol combat rules and the officers use either service revolvers or semi-automatic service pistols. Each competition is made up of six stages and a total score of 500 is possible.

Stage one includes six rounds shot from the preset prone position from 40 yard out in 15 seconds. Stage two is 12 rounds fired from the kneeling position from 25 yards out in 30 seconds. Stage three is made up of two strings of six shots each (one using each hand) from the standing position with ten seconds allowed for each string. Stage four is two strings of six rounds from the standing position from 10 yards with eight seconds allowed for each string. Stage five is six shots fired, standing, from five yards out in five seconds. Stage six is two rounds, standing, from five yards out in three seconds.

The purpose of the KPOA Championship is to encourage peace officers to participate in competitive shooting using their standard-issue revolver or semi-automatic pistol without having to incur the cost of additional or specialized equipment.