The police forms call him Advanced Silhouette SP-83A; in some gun shops, he is B-60. He is widely known in police and gun-club circles as the Thug, a life-size, two-dimensional paper target that every New York City police officer has shot at since the early 1960’s. Anyone can buy one in gun stores. It is the official target used by the Department of Homeland Security. But who is this guy?
Some believe the figure is based on Fred V. Worell, a New York police sergeant who taught thousands of New York City police officers how to shoot in his 35 years on the job. Others say he was drawn from the image of another cop, Bruno J. Fulginiti. Still others contend he is a copy of Ernest Borgnine, the actor. The New York Times tracks down the answer.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/nyregion/17target.html?hp&ex=1108702800