By: Natalie Warren

Devoting ten hour days to secure the safety of others is a job full of pressure and responsibility, but that is what Frank Schoenfeld takes pride in. Schoenfeld is a Lieutenant at the Molalla Police department who helps set the guidelines for training protocol. He never realized the tragedy that happened on September 12, 2000 would shape the rest of his life and his career. “It was the most awful part of my career but it made me want to become something better,” said Schonefeld.

17 years ago, the Clackamas County SWAT team trained at Scenario Village; a made up town filled with cement buildings. One of Schoenfeld’s coworkers, Bill Bowman, volunteered to play the offender while the rest of the team practiced defense tactics. The sound of blanks going off filled the vacant building with an echoing that rang in everyone’s ears. Schoenfeld ended the training day in the basement of the three story building where he saw fake blood running down the walls. It wasn’t until he heard people on the floor above him yelling for help that Schoenfeld felt reality set in; it wasn’t fake blood seeping through the ceiling, it was Bowman’s. One of the guns being used was filled with ammo instead of blanks, and because of that Bowman died in the middle of the training and no one even noticed. Nothing like this had ever happened to any police department before. Taken back by the incident Schoenfeld wanted to quit, everything he believed in his work was all taken away. “I was ready to give up. Forget it. Screw it,” said Schoenfeld. “But I didn’t want to just sit back and say screw that because that was the easy way out.” He used all of the hurt he felt from the situation, and redirected the pain into wanting to make a change in training protocols to keep officers safe. “I learned a lot about myself and what changed me was we had a serious problem that needed to be changed, and I wanted to be on the building process of that,” said Schoenfeld. Not only was he doing this for himself and other officers everywhere, but he was doing it in memory of his friend whose life was sacrificed in a devastating accident.

Schoenfeld’s goals for the future is to keep trainings a safe place where new and experienced officers can get the training they need without feeling as though their life is in danger. By creating a safe training environment Schoenfeld is confident that trainees will have a better quality of training and peace of mind. “I use it as a driving force to change protocol within training and protocol within me,” said Schoenfeld.