Sharpshooter on Duty

The best shot in California belongs to a reserve deputy from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station.

On May 1, Greg Smorodinsky won the Top Gun award at the Best of the West, a statewide law enforcement shooting competition held at the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department.

Officers had to use weaponry that included hand guns and shotguns and clear multiple courses filled with targets that simulated criminals and hostages.

Scores were determined by how quickly and accurately an officer completed a course.

If an officer missed a target it counted as a one-minute penalty and if a hostage was shot, it was a five-minute penalty.

Finishing with the weekend's best overall performance left Smorodinsky feeling proud.

"It's a pretty big honor," he said. "I was pretty happy about it and there's a lot of good folks that were out there that day that brought a lot of skills. They're very good at what they do, and they spend a lot of time and effort in training."

Smorodinsky is part of the sheriff station's Malibu Search and Rescue Team, a responsibility that requires substantial ongoing training, sometimes several days a month, which helps him hone his skills.

It's particularly impressive that Smorodinsky is able to keep his shooting skills so sharp because he has been a reserve deputy for eight years, and thus doesn't work as many hours as a regular deputy.

That caught the attention of some full-timers at the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station.

"For a search and rescue guy to excel in [the competition], that was kind of different," station Sgt. Tui Wright said.