Police train in house slated for rehab by Habitat for Humanity

Someday the house at 231 Highland Ave. in Waynesboro will be the new home of a Habitat for Humanity of Franklin County partner family, but recently it was the scene of people in crisis, domestic violence and gunshots.

Habitat had a different partner — the Waynesboro Police Department — on Feb. 9 and 10 as the home was used by officers to train for use-of-force situations.

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The training came about after Mark Taylor, a police department training officer on patrol, saw the sign saying “Future Site of Another Habitat Home” in front of the two-story, white-painted brick house on the hill above WellSpan Waynesboro Hospital.

Eric Strait, Habitat’s construction manager, recalls Taylor approaching him and saying he had the “weird idea” to use the vacant house for training.

“It was the perfect opportunity for them and for Habitat to help the community,” Strait said, explaining it is line with Habitat for Humanity’s mission statement: “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.”

Mark Story, Habitat’s community engagement director, said the organization's plan was to "gut the interior and then rebuild it" with volunteer labor.

“The police approached us about using the house in its current state as a training location for scenarios like active shooter and hostile situations," he said.

How does training help police officers make use-of-force decisions?

Police undergo training on a regular basis, and having a structure with real rooms is a plus for officers making shoot or no shoot decisions, Taylor said.

“It is often difficult to replicate realistic circumstances in a mock training environment,” according to James H. Sourbier IV, chief of police. "The ability to make use of a residential structure adds value to the training exercise and significantly increases the skill set our officers.

“I am grateful to Habitat for a partnership opportunity which will permit us to train our officers in techniques that will deliver more efficient and effective service to our community.”

Officers were using special guns that fire soap “bullets” that splatter like paintballs. The bullets leave marks so officers can see where they were hitting and are accountable for the rounds, Taylor said.

Officers also could experience what it was like to be shot, although with lower force. The simulated bullets travel at 400 feet per second, while real ones are fired at about 1,000 feet per second.

“Any opportunity to get better at our profession, we take advantage of,” said Officer Andrew Zeigler.

“We’re fortunate to have an empty house here,” said Kay Martin, community liaison for the Borough of Waynesboro, who was involved in role-playing for the training. Formerly a mental health co-responder with the Greencastle, Waynesboro and Washington Township police departments, she’s worked for the borough since Nov. 1, assisting on calls where her expertise is beneficial, including police, EMS and code enforcement.

The training involved police response to various scenarios, such as an emotionally disturbed person in crisis, a domestic violence situation and people committing crimes.

“Use of the Highland Avenue property for SIMS (simulated) training permits our officers to engage in realistic judgment and decision-based force-on-force training,” Sourbier said. “This training is particularly valuable to the agency as it compels an officer to make appropriate use of force decisions in real time in an instructor-controlled scenario.”

Martin was joined in the role-playing by the sons of two police officers, and each said they volunteered because it would help their dad.

Alex Sanders is the son of Steve Sanders, who like Taylor is a training officer with the department. The 22-year-old business management major at Penn State Mont Alto helped with training last year and thought this opportunity sounded like fun.

Andrew Stansfield is the son of Officer Robert Stansfield, who told him the training would be “pretty cool.” The 18-year-old Waynesboro Area Senior High School student thought it sounded interesting.

What are Habitat for Humanity’s plans for the rehab of Waynesboro home?

Habitat for Humanity of Franklin County purchased the property in September 2022 for $102,000, including a $40,000 donation from the Franklin County Redevelopment Authority.

When finished, the four-bedroom home will have one and a half baths and will be sold to a family in exchange for 450 hours of “sweat equity” and a 30-year mortgage with zero interest based on one-third of the family income, Strait said.

“Due to the extent of renovations, we estimate the project will take a full 12 months to complete,” Story said. “This will also allow for plentiful volunteer opportunities.”

For more information, visit www.habitatfranklinpa.org.

Shawn Hardy is a reporter with Gannett's Franklin County newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania — the Echo Pilot in Greencastle, The Record Herald in Waynesboro and the Public Opinion in Chambersburg. She has more than 35 years of journalism experience. Reach her at shardy@gannett.com