Judgmental Use of Force Simulators: Five Tips From the Pros
VirTra recently polled several top law enforcement officials and use of force training experts on helpful tips when evaluating use of force simulators to further enhance training and officer skills. Here's what they had to say.
Officer David Garcia, Instructor, Forth Worth Police Department
Tip #1: Use the virtual scenarios found in judgmental use of force simulators to train officers to reinforce good physical technique and proper positioning.
Garcia has found his department’s judgmental use of force simulators to be an invaluable tool in instructing the department’s new recruits and allowing them to see mistakes in technique or positioning. Often trainees will hesitate or take an action or position during a scenario that jeopardizes their safety. Trainers should review these actions taken during the debrief process, and recruits can see how the psychological stress that use of force simulators create can negatively impact their physical responses. Instructors can use the debriefing process to correct an improper shooting stance or failure to maintain proper distance between themselves and a subject. “I can see if their hands are empty and ready as they begin engaging a subject, or if they’re in a proper shooting stance if the scenario escalates,” said Garcia. Ensuring that recruits are using proper technique are often insights that can’t be gleaned from training on a shooting range or using older technology, since those static situations lack the realism and physiological and psychological stresses that the latest use of force simulators can provide.
Lieutenant Steve Hampton, Director of the Saint Louis Police Academy
Tip #2: Make sure your agency conducts extensive practice on use of force training which stresses patience, observation and listening.
Use the time spent in use of force simulators to coach officers and trainees to be more observant and aware of their surroundings – basic tactics like knowing what type of situation an officer is being drawn into, not parking in front of a house, being aware of tunnel vision when dealing with a subject and evaluating a scenario in its entirety – all these elements must become instinctual through repetition and practice so that an officer can respond appropriately without hesitation or uncertainty.
Patience is not reacting to a subject’s distress or voice level and using verbal techniques to help calm a suspect and diffuse a situation are important considerations. Developing observational skills in the controlled environment of a use of force simulator helps officers become situationally aware and pick up on verbal cues more easily. Having scenarios that involve real actors versus computer-generated figures is an added benefit as well. Good observation also involves better listening, which can allow officers to see and hear mental or behavioral disparities in subjects that can add layers of complexity to a scenario – a subject with a mental health issue can often display telltale signs that are conveyed in the cadence of their speech or tone of their voice. Persons of differing cultural background or nationalities can react negatively to direct eye contact and avoid looking directly at an officer. Teaching officers to see and hear these clues in a judgmental use of force simulator allows them to apply what they learn more effectively in the field.
Major Kevin Shults, Broward County Sheriff’s Office
Tip #3: Use time spent in use of force simulators and the subsequent debriefing process to remind trainees that they control 50 percent of any conversation.
Officers can only control fifty percent of any contact - what they do, say, think and feel. Their actions can have a direct impact on the contact’s outcome. Instructors must teach trainees to use de-escalation tactics when possible to slow things down: effective communication skills, maintain distance and separation, bringing additional resources to help defuse potentially volatile situations. Some officers are naturally better communicators, and for those that aren’t, use of force simulations where de-escalation opportunities exist are vital to allow them to see and understand where those opportunities can lead to better outcomes. Shults says that it is difficult to prepare officers for every human contact situation that can happen in the field, but the lifelike realism that advanced simulators provide can help officers and trainees practice being emotionally in control so that when the real thing occurs, they have skill sets to manage what they can control during any contact.
Mike Brown, Chief of Police, Salt Lake City Police Department
Tip #4: Create incentives or awards that encourage the use of de-escalation techniques to help change behaviors and encourage new ones
From June, 2015 to May, 2016 the Salt Lake City Police Department had 37 instances where officers managed to de-escalate situations in which they might otherwise have been justified in using lethal force. To help emphasize and reinforce the importance of de-escalation tactics being taught in use force simulator training, officers involved in those incidents were given the Salt Lake City Police Department’s new de-escalation award. The award is given to officers that used expert tactical skills or superior verbal communications and techniques to de-escalate a situation that could have gone down a path to a deadly use of force. In addition to recognition among fellow officers, law enforcement can use a de-escalation awards program to also build closer ties to the community. A program of this nature can help reassure members of the public, community groups and citizens advisory boards that area law enforcement is taking a proactive approach to de-escalation, and also promote a more healthy dialogue with city, state, and local government officials about use of force training and de-escalation.
Undersheriff Tim Olivas, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office
Tip #5: Make your judgmental use of force simulator a centerpiece of your community outreach program.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office takes great pride in community involvement, and the department uses its VirTra V-300™ as part of the its Sheriff's Citizen Academy, an education and outreach program that provides county residents with an inside look at the Sheriff's Office and all aspects of law enforcement. Opening their training center to the local community and allowing them to experience a scenario in an advanced use of force simulator helps members of the local community to see and experience the stress and split-second decision-making that law enforcement personnel must face in potentially life-threatening situations in the field. “We’ve had members of the public go through training on the V-300 system, and there is definitely an ‘ah-ha’ moment” when they see and experience the realistic sights, sounds and sensations in a VirTra training scenario,” said Olivas. Local residents that go through the scenarios can have a better understanding of the complexities of use of force policies and how officers often don’t have the luxury of de-escalation in situations where officer and public safety are paramount. Law enforcement can also use the demonstrations to help convey that the department is providing their officers with the most advanced training technology to help keep both officers and citizens safer.
Training simulators have been part of the law enforcement industry for more than a decade. Experts agree that they are valuable tools that enhance training and enable officers to safely prepare for life and death situations while learning tactics and strategies on how to respond effectively. If officers can work through split-second shoot/don’t shoot decisions under stress in the life-like realism of a simulator, then the outcomes in the real world can be better for all involved – officers and the general public.
