When used properly, de-escalation can reduce police use of force.
And while not every situation permits de-escalation—as some subjects are noncompliant no matter the calming tactic used—there are certainly other times when the proper tone of voice or phase can reduce the chance of a subject becoming out of control.
Recently, many agencies have updated their training to heavily focus on de-escalation and thus lower the frequency of force used by their officers. To help further this training, VirTra has produced two different nationally-certified de-escalation curricula that is free for all law enforcement customers.
This training—De-Escalation and Crisis De-Escalation—has a total of 6 training hours which encompasses vigorous coursework, educational presentations and real-life training video scenarios. As nationally-certified materials, they fall under the V-VICTA—Virtual Interactive Coursework Academy— program, along with other modern, skill-building critical curriculum.
De-Escalation Curriculum
Born from a partnership between VirTra and the conflict experts at VISTELAR, this 4-hour course breaks down interactions and allows officers to train on their simulator how to de-escalate situations before they become detrimental.
Crisis De-Escalation Curriculum
This 2-hour course is designed to help officers better identify crisis behaviors and use their VirTra simulator’s real-world scenarios to practice their skills. Like “De-Escalation” and other V-VICTA courses, Crisis De-Escalation provides ample time for training in lifelike scenarios.
With a wide variety of environments, situations and subjects, instructors have an extensive choice of training options for their officers. Everything from unruly bystanders to emotionally disturbed persons – VirTra aims to cover as much territory as possible to prepare law enforcement men and women for the unpredictable situations that may happen in the field.
For more information on V-VICTA and how it can provide effective training for your agency, please contact a VirTra specialist.
