Members of the local media had the rare opportunity to participate in official police training through a “Media Day” event hosted by the Kerrville Police Department at the Hill Country Youth Event Center last week.
During the event, members of the press were able to get a first look at the KPD’s virtual de-escalation training equipment.
KPD obtained a grant last year to purchase the virtual training simulator, offered by VirTra. This cutting edge technology was designed to prepare law enforcement officers for a variety of high-stakes situations by strengthening tactical decision-making and increasing accuracy.
Based out of Chandler, Arizona, VirTra offers a unique, immersive approach to training officers for potentially dangerous scenarios. The program uses a certified curriculum alongside virtual-reality technology to create an interactive and dynamic training process.
KPD applied for and received a grant to implement the VirTra system specifically. The grant requires a few officers to become certified VirTra instructors and operators through the National De-escalation Training Center. KPD used the funds to purchase the program, additional software, training tools, and projection equipment.
Setting up VirTra requires a projector, screen, computer, and a trained operator. The general function of the program acts like a choose-your-own-adventure novel, where an officer’s decisions throughout the virtual interaction will change how the scenario plays out. This requires a second person to be involved as the program operator, who sits behind the computer selecting the responses. KPD currently has six trained operators, two of whon received advanced training at the VirTra facility in Arizona.
The program includes a vast library of videos, all of which begin with a mock-dispatcher explaining the situation before the officer “arrives” at the scene. From there, every scenario varies in terms of compliance, danger, and actions available.
Scenarios in the VirTra library teach officers how to respond in high-risk situations like domestic violence or active shootings, as well as providing training for autism awareness and managing mental crises. Training videos that include a person with autism are always portrayed by actors with autism, to maintain an authentic simulation and promote de-escalation strategies.
Officers can interact with the software verbally and through the use of infrared tools. These include mock guns, taser cartridges, and pepper spray. These simulated tools replicate actual models that KPD uses, so officers can train on the equipment they have. The tools communicate with the program through infrared lights, pinging the exact locations of where the officers aimed at the screen. This allows for real-time statistics and feedback to be given, intended to help decrease response time and increase precision.
Using VirTra’s sister program, V-Author, the instructor can customize training videos to look like they take place in their service area. The videos originally filmed in arid Arizona can have the desert backgrounds replaced with 360-degree photos of Kerrville’s suburbs and shrubbery. This allows for instructors to tailor the curriculum to the specific needs of Kerrville’s law enforcement.
One-by-one, members of Kerrville’s media outlets tried their hand at de-escalating an identified threat scenario. Each was equipped with a mock gun, and given the opportunity to virtually step into the shoes of a Kerrville police officer. Soon it became exceedingly evident that once a threat is escalating, it can become violent quickly.
Though not stipulated by the terms of the grant to have a training regime implemented, KPD is requiring all officers to go through the de-escalation training, with recurring sessions taking place as much as possible. Right now, the VirTra system resides in the cramped KPD training room. Since VirTra requires a considerable amount of floor space for projection and range of motion, KPD will be able to utilize VirTra regularly when moved into the new law enforcement center.