And it will be the same PD that serves the order !
Truth!
Now that I no longer live in MA, I can tell the story.
A man was shooting a pistol at Massapoag Sportsmen's Club and had a skip-shot that struck a person taking a cigarette break at Crescent Ridge Farm (police estimate was 1/2 mile away), striking her in the arm and the spent bullet just fell to the ground. Sharon PD was called and found the shooter, confiscated the gun, MSP ballistics proved that the bullet came from his gun, etc.
The chief ordered the Lt. to shut down Sharon F&G Club outdoor range (which wasn't involved and >1 mile away). It took a lawyer, $14K in baffles and >6 months to get the selectmen to okay opening the outdoor range again. Sharon F&G was where SPD and a handful of other PDs qualified each year at no cost to them. I attended the selectmen's meeting after the club was shut down and I also had some words with one of the selectmen about it (he was and still is an a-hole attorney).
Subsequently and on advice of counsel, SF&G demanded a $1Million insurance policy naming the club before allowing any outside agency to use the facilities. SPD refused and only Boston College Police provided the required policy.
The Sharon PD chief begged me to bring to the BOD his plea to use the range as they were having to pay OT and travel to Raynham to qualify officers. I was legislative chairman of that club for 14 yrs and thus a BOD member. I told the chief that I would put it on the agenda but wouldn't support it. It failed and SPD was not allowed to use the facilities.
I know that after I quit the club in 2000, at some point they again allowed SPD to use the facilities. That same chief ordered an officer to shutdown Wednesday evening skeet/trap shooting one Summer night ~6:30PM after a Karen called to complain about the noise (this was within the past 10 yrs). SF&G was incorporated in the 1930s and I personally know that Wednesday night skeet/trap has been going on there since at least the 1970s . . . and I heard this particular incident on the police scanner directly.
For practice on our own time, I always just joined as a member and did my own thing like everyone else at the club.
We were required to shoot qualification once a year as a department and it took a couple days to run everyone through since we all couldn’t be there at once.
If I were in charge of the range I would tell the town department that they can use it for free two day a year for qualification. Shut the range down for those two days while they are there and have them ask the officers to apply for membership for further use.
It earns good will with the police and the town (Joe taxpayer is footing whatever fee you charge, not the cops) which can help you out down the road when liberals complain about the noise or whatever. Goodwill is worth more than whatever money you would reasonably charge
At Sharon F&G, members were forbidden from going up to the outdoor ranges when the police were shooting. I think it was for our own personal safety to avoid being "accidentally" shot.
Does anyone have a story of cops actually helping a gun range when neighbors complained?
Yes, read the post here somewhere about the lawsuit against a harassing neighbor of Londonderry F&G. Litchfield Police (and maybe Londonderry Police as well, the property is in both towns) investigated the neighbor complaints and concluded that none of the alleged incidents came from LF&G ranges. But NH is a very different state and culture!