The Marksmanship Team of the Houston Police Department has been actively shooting local and major shooting competitions in various disciplines during the teams inaugural season. The HPDMT was established in February, 2019, to promote, maintain, improve and advance marksmanship among Houston Police Department officers. The team is currently led by Commander Craig Bellamy (Gessner) and is made up of officers and sergeants from divisions across the city including; Narcotics, Training, IAD, Burglary & Theft, Gangs, Air/Marine, Tac Ops, Robbery, CID, Office of Planning, South Gessner, Midwest, North, Downtown, South Central, South East, Eastside, Southwest, and IAH.
Representing the Houston Police Department and their sponsors, marksmen of the HPDMT demonstrate leadership, character, and excellence in the sports of action pistol, action shotgun, action rifle and multi-gun competitions. Since the team’s inception, the HPDMT has been able to progress rapidly from a concept, into a highly competitive and award winning team.
The marksmen posted outstanding results in the annual Cinco De Plinko Team Multigun Match, held May 11 in Cresson, Texas. The match was hosted by the Veterans Xtreme Adventures at the Triple C Range and was attended by 60 shooters. Despite the cold, rain and muddy conditions the team of Josh Sallee (Training) and Jerry McClain (Narcotics) finished first, the team of Chris Hartman (Narcotics) and John Gaytan (Narcotics) finished second while the team of Pete Esbrandt (Narcotics) and Rudy Madrid (IAH) finished a close fourth all in the 2-gun division.
In June members of the marksmanship team competed in the annual Texas Police Games hosted by the Texas Police Athletic Federation in Abilene, Texas. The Texas Police Games is well attended by law enforcement officers from federal, state and local agencies. Shooting multiple disciplines over the course of four days, the marksmen walked away with an astounding 27 medals: 7 Gold, 12 Silver, and 8 Bronze. Team members included Kevin Smith (South Gessner), Khoa Nguyen (Midwest), John Gaytan (Narcotics), Daniel Gianelloni (North), Paul Torre (South Central), Doug Dillon and John Dominques (Training), Bryan Moseley (B&T), Daniel Dinh (Southwest), Corey Arrington (Southeast), and Steve Forrester (Tac Ops). The 2020 games will be held in South Padre Island / Harlingen, Texas during the week of June 6 to June 12.
October was a busy month for the HPDMT as members competed in four events in Texas and Louisiana.
Team members earned several honors while competing in the USPSA Oil Field Classic held in Rosenberg. Commander Craig Bellamy (South Gessner) led the way finishing as High Overall in the single stack division. Sid Veliz (Narcotics) finished fourth Unclassified in the Carry Optics Division while Khoa Nguyen (Midwest) and Doug Dillon (Training) earned first and third place in the Production C Class Division and Robert Navarez (Tact Ops) and Travis Koryciak (South Gessner) earned first and second place in the Production Unclassified Division.
Eighteen marksmen made the trip to Burnett, Texas to compete in the Texas Law Enforcement Multigun Championship hosted by the Austin Police Department Marksmanship Team at the Reveille Peak Ranch. Six team members placed in the top twenty of their respective divisions. The competition at the match gets tougher every year with marksmanship teams from the Austin Police Department, Lufkin Police Department and U.S. Border Patrol in attendance.
The Louisiana Gator Classic is an annual match held at the Shootout Range in Princeton, Louisiana, home to Pro-shooter Jerry Miculek. Despite the poor range conditions that called for “Hurricane Harvey” boots due to two days of rain, Mike Junco (Midwest), Matt Lem (Narcotics), Jerry McClain (Narcotics) and Doug Dillon (Training) took top honors in four separate USPSA divisions that included Limited, Production, PCC (Pistol Caliber Carbine), and Carry Optics. The marksman earned High Law Enforcement in the Limited, Production, and PCC divisions as well as two third place finishes in Limited and Production A Class and a second place finish in PCC Unclassified (second to the great Jerry Miculek).
The winning did not stop there as David Venables (Training) and Rudy Madrid (IAH) travelled to Zachary, Louisiana and competed in a Law Enforcement / Military only multigun competition. David Venables finished in third place in the Tactical Optics division and an amazing sixth place out of three divisions combined.
The Houston Police Department Marksmanship Team has various sponsorships from Houston Police Foundation, Houston Police Officers’ Union, Primary Arms, Daniel Defense, Anderson Manufacturing, Safariland, and Radical Firearms.
Now, the marksmen look to the upcoming yearly competition cycle as they begin to prepare for local, regional and national competitions.
by Jerry McClain, HPD Narcotics Division
