IT WAS going to be Prof Denis Donoghue lecturing on "Taking Yeats's Word for It" at the Catholic University, or an invitation to "visit the heart of darkness and all devil" in Fairfax city, Virginia.

Sorry, professor, but we accepted the Conradian invitation from our gun-toting friend in Fairfax, who wanted us to visit his local shooting range run by the National Rifle Association. But first we called at the Fairfax police's own shooting range to see how the professionals do it.

Assistant Chief Marcus M. Lipp was waiting for us at the one-storey police headquarters which offers its rooms for community activities, including Irish dancing classes. Affluent Fairfax pays over the odds for an efficient police force of 61 officers and a squad of gleaming white police cruisers.

Their shooting range is in a corner of the local council's yard with the garbage collection vehicles. Chief Lipp gives our little group a rundown on how his officers are trained twice yearly in shooting skills in the dark as well as in light. A high standard is expected and under 70 per cent means being sent back for more intensive instruction.

In the US most gun battles between cops and baddies, he tells us, last less than 3 1/2 seconds during which seven to 15 shots are exchanged. On average the police will register one or two hits in these exchanges which Chief Lipp thinks is not very good accuracy.

He explains some of the tricks of the trade. If you find a policeman stands away from you while you are asking the way to McDonald's, "he's not being rude - he's been trained to do that."

Because if you're really a baddy and about to pull a knife on him, he needs space to reach for his gun.

Since the police have replaced revolvers with semi-automatic pistols, their chances of surviving have improved. Chief Lipp described how one of his officers chasing a young, fit burglar down a dark alley suddenly found the quarry had turned and was running at him with a knife.

The officer started firing but the nine-millimetre bullets weighing less than an ounce were only slowing the man up, not downing him. It was with his eighth shot while lie was on his back and being stabbed that the officer killed the burglar. A six-chamber revolver would not have saved the officer's life.

"We don't say we shoot to wound or to kill. We shoot to stop the aggressive act. If one bullet would do it, that would be great. If it takes ten to save someone's life, "that's what we have to do," explained Chief Lipp.

He handed me the Sig-Sauer P 239 with a full magazine of 14 shells and invited me to shoot at the human torso on the target down range 20 feet away. All 14 hit the target with four in the vital organ area.

This would have got.me on the chiefs SWAT team only it can no longer be called that. It has become a "politically incorrect" term in law-abiding Fairfax which was appalled at the antics of the SWAT crowd on the television series, Hill Street Blues.

"The SWAT team there was just comedy it took a tank to open up somebody's door," Chief Lipp explained. "So the city officials thought we'd go out of control. It was decided for the benefit of everyone that we'd be called the EST - Emergency Services Team."

The latest TV series called Cops is real-life footage of SWAT-type teams in action, but "if you want to see normally how not to do something - watch that TV show." The chief often tapes it for use in training.

Narcotics teams are a special problem . "It's the most dangerous job but they have the poorest training and some of the poorest discipline. The reason is that to get good narcotics people we pay them to lie to people to try to buy drugs. They have to be very outgoing and very willing to deal with the scum of the earth and become their best friend. That's why rich guys are your worst discipline problem," said Chief Lipp.

Now it really felt like the heart of darkness and we had not even got to the NRA range. That will have to be another story.

"...the centre cannot hold/ Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.. The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity" - no it's not Chief Lipp but old WBY, who had seen it all before SWAT ever appeared on the scene.