New use-of-force simulation lab offers 'next evolution' in training for Brandon police: instructor
Assiniboine Community College lab will be used by Brandon police and cadets at the college
Police in Brandon, Man., and cadets in the police studies program at Assiniboine Community College will soon have full use of a new use-of-force simulation lab for training in the Wheat City.
The lab, which uses a computer to project video onto a screen, allows officers and students to train and interact in real time in more than 500 different scenarios, from active-shooter situation simulations to nighttime break-ins to situations involving people in distress.
"The goal of the simulation is to put our members into real-life training environments," said Brandon police Staff Sgt. Brian Partridge.
"We've always talked about simulation training and scenario-based training. It's just the next evolution in simulation training. We get the opportunity to see how they react to a given situation," said Partridge, who helped Brandon secure the lab and software.
Media were shown the facility on Tuesday morning as part of a tour with Manitoba Justice Minister Heather Stefanson. The province gave Brandon police $90,000 for the lab from the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund.
The force started setting up the facility late last year and is now running tests of the software.
Partridge said the simulator, which was developed by a company in Colorado, will complement other live training scenarios officers take part in. Existing training has been limited to "force on force," with real people in real buildings, but the computer simulator offers far more training possibilities.
The instructor can make the scenarios last as long as they want and can also do things like adjust the screen brightness or volume of the characters on the screen.
"In this environment, we've been provided [with] all of these scenarios that I don't know we would have dreamt up on our own," Partridge said.
"If we can keep members on their game, keep them thinking about what's Plan A, what do I do if this goes sideways, what happens if somebody pulls a gun, what happens if somebody pulls a knife … then I'm not going to be surprised."
The simulator, which features a camera facing the officer or officers in training, also allows instructors to conduct a post-incident moment-by-moment review, much like what a sports team would do.
"What we can show [is] the member in full screen and the scenario in the top corner … and we can say, 'Well, this is the incident, this us how you acted, tell me how you were thinking at this moment.' And then we can run it forward a little bit or back it up," said Partridge.
"That's the value of having an instructor running the system."
While the software was developed in the United States, it has been tailored for Brandon and the resources available to the force in the southwestern Manitoba city.
Partridge said Brandon police are already seeing the benefits of the simulator. One simulation officers have already done saw instructors purposely distract the officers during the simulation. The majority, he said, didn't see that there was a gun at the scene in the scenario until it was played back to them.
"That one 30-second scenario has made our members more aware," he said. "It puts our members in the frame of mind to deal with situations with the resources that are available to them."
A grand opening for the lab is scheduled for Friday.
