How often does your agency train with their simulator?
Surveys have shown that most law enforcement agencies only train with their simulator once a quarter; or even worse, only once a year. While agencies are busy completing other tasks and jobs, this lack of consistent training simulator use creates considerable downtime. Instead, your department can use the simulator in other areas to improve the agency while maximizing on your investment:
Customized Environmental Scenarios
Each VirTra scenario library is packed with a variety of scenarios, locations and events. However, agencies can take training to the next level with the V-Author program. Utilizing this software, agencies can take pictures of local landmarks or high-activity areas and upload them to the software. Once there, instructors can add characters into the image, making the training more personal and beneficial.
Cop Talks
The Utah Attorney General’s Office uses their simulator in various ways to maximize their use of force training. For example, the Office has seen a great improvement in an officer’s ability when using their system for items such as remedial training and educating prosecutors. By showing prosecutors how memory is encoded and recalled, they can teach them about common perception distortions experienced in a critical incident. These videos, Cop Talks, are released as a monthly series on YouTube.
Reinforce Classroom Training
VirTra’s V-VICTA curriculum is especially applicable in this case. Instructors can teach a lesson, tactic or principle in the classroom through slideshows and tests. After, trainees can put the lesson into practice, thus moving it to long-term memory, by engaging in the correlated scenario. Training after this manner allows instructors to maximize time while providing the best training experience.
These are only a few examples of how to incorporate training into other agency avenues. Innovative ideas, such as these, can give training a boost while keeping it consistent. For more ideas on how to maximize your training simulator, contact a VirTra specialist.
