Firearms instructor secures weapons in mobile cases

Police training is the specialty of John Krupa, a Chicago police officer with more than 15 years of experience in law enforcement. His expertise ranges from serving as a beat officer to receiving more than 4,000 hours of certified training as a firearms instructor.

Krupa also is the founder, director of training operations and president of Spartan Tactical Training Group, based in Lisle, Ill. In this role, he provides professional tactical training to law enforcement agencies around the nation, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Department of Homeland Security.

“Our training programs focus on developing combat mindset, tactical aptitude and a reflexive conditioned response when the use of deadly force in self-defense is imminent,” Krupa said.

He emphasizes the importance of training with the same type of weapons that officers use in the line of duty. To accomplish this goal, Krupa’s training team uses Simunition FX kits that convert live weapons for safe, scenario-based training. The converted weapons fire an FX marking round, by which a nylon sabot, filled with water-soluble colored detergent, travels about 400 ft. per second. These tools create a reality-based training environment, allowing officers to fire safely on live targets and leave a colored mark on the adversary.

Searching for a storage solution

To store and transport the training weapons, Krupa looked for a layered safety system that would prevent accidental discharge of the weapons, while allowing easy mobility of the entire arsenal of equipment to training sites.

“We routinely travel to various training sites with as many as 30 to 40 weapons at a time, including support equipment for these weapons, as well as safety glasses, first aid kits and protective gear,” Krupa said.

After researching various options for weapons transport and storage, he discovered military-grade armory cases made by Hardigg Industries Inc., based in South Deerfield, Mass.

Krupa was sold on the versatility, durability and lightweight design of the cases, which include removable casters for easy transport over various terrain. He modified the foam inserts inside each case to securely hold equipment in a variety of configurations. In addition, Krupa inverted weapons within each case to double the storage capacity.

To solve a safety problem of weapon identification and save time during training courses, Krupa selected specific colors of cases. He chose blue cases to designate Simunition converted weapons; green and black cases to signify eye protection products and related materials; and red cases to store and transport first aid kits.

Krupa has used the cases for the past two years, and he reported that they have held up very well under tough conditions, including harsh weather.

“Weapons and training equipment transport is a huge challenge for an organization like ours,” Krupa said. “It’s a huge deal to have products like [the storage cases] that make it so much easier for us to get out there and get people trained safely and effectively.”

For more information about Hardigg Industries, which manufactures a variety of transport cases for law enforcement and other applications, visit http://www.hardigg.com/.

Hardigg Industries Inc. provided this case history.