VA Cop Invents Self-Powered Battering Ram

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VA Cop Invents Self-Powered Battering Ram

Officer.com

BY KRISTIN DAVIS

The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- That warm January night in 2008 felt routine in almost every way. Scott Chambers and Jarrod Shivers reviewed the plan over sushi with a partner.

They drove by a house on Redstart Avenue where police suspected a marijuana-growing operation. They grabbed a coffee before joining the rest of the team at the 2nd Precinct to go over the drug-search plan.

Shivers was dead by the end of the night, shot as colleagues used a battering ram to get through the shooter's front door.

Chambers watched his buddy die . For the next six months, the police sergeant replayed it. He analyzed each moment, second-guessed, grieved.

Later, the shooter was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

Chambers thought about an old idea.

He'd spent a dozen years on the Chesapeake Police Department's SWAT Team, eight in vice and narcotics. He knew the importance of getting through a suspect's door fast.

An explosive entry could harm someone inside. A battering ram that did not breach a door entirely could endanger those on the outside.

A ram - little more than a 40-pound cement-filled cylinder - relies on the thrust of the person who swing s it. Miss it the first time and give the bad guy time to get away, or find a gun .

What police needed was something in the middle. Something for high-risk search warrants and hostage situations and barricades. Essentially, a self-powered ram.

THAT, is cool. The inspiration for the invention is terrible, but its good to know that the Officer's death brought about something that will hopefully save other Officers in the future.

http://rapidentrysolutions.com/product.cfm