Spokane Police Department implements virtual reality into officer training - KXLY Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. — Officers astatine the Spokane Police Academy were capable to person realistic grooming done virtual world Thursday afternoon. The section is 1 of the archetypal 100 agencies to statesman implementing virtual world into its grooming methods.

SPD says the caller signifier of grooming gives officers different mode to beryllium amended equipped to support the assemblage safe.

Inside the VR headset, officers are enactment into a fistful of mundane scenarios and they’re tasked with reacting successful the champion mode possible. In immoderate cases, reaching for their stun weapon oregon handgun to grip the situation.

“Our eventual extremity successful immoderate concern is to de-escalate and marque it a harmless situation for each radical involved. Whether it beryllium the citizens, the neighbors, oregon the idiosyncratic experiencing a crisis. That’s our eventual extremity and this conscionable gives america much accidental and tools to larn those,” Spokane Police Department Lt. Steve Wohl said.

At the extremity of each script comes a debrief.

“We tin debrief and speech astir bully parts that they did, learning lessons. We tin support way and notes of the script truthful we tin bring it up and say, ‘Did we deliberation astir this? Did we usage bully verbal? Did we deliberation astir this contented successful the scenario?,'” Wohl said.

In 1 scenario, an disconnected work serviceman came successful interaction with a idiosyncratic dealing with a schizophrenic episode. During the scenario, the officers was fixed choices connected however to champion proceed, specified arsenic not disclosing her serviceman presumption and conscionable acting arsenic a acrophobic citizen.

The serviceman talked the idiosyncratic down and yet got him assistance successful the scenario.

“It makes you a portion of the game, which is what we’re trying to bash here. Give officers the acquisition to learn, and acquisition present successful the grooming halfway versus retired connected the streets,” Wohl said.

The department’s stun weapon company, “Axon” was giving the grooming connected Thursday and it volition beryllium passed down to each of the officers starting the archetypal week of February.

READ: ‘Increasing level of brazenness’: Spokane Police usage accent patrols to drawback shoplifters

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