More than 70 police officers at Yale University are protesting a new policy that allows them to be fired if they don’t pass a firearms test in 30 working days after having failed it twice.
The officers say the new policy puts their jobs at risk because they don’t have enough time to practice for the exam, which requires shooting a target from different distances.
A shrinking number of ranges in the area means officers have to travel farther to train, said Mike Hall, a spokesman for the officers union, the Yale Police Benevolent Association. Officers have had to travel as far as Glastonbury, Conn., because the ranges at the New Haven Police Department are often busy, he said.