It’s one thing to talk about de-escalation and another to show de-escalation in action.
The West Valley City Police Department has eagerly been showing off their de-escalation training in the Utah Attorney Generals Office’s VirTra simulator, showing the public and other departments what this training has done for them.
“Over the course of the last five years, West Valley Police Officers, within our agency, have received over approximately 3,000 hours of de-escalation training in various forms. De-escalation is at the forefront of all of our training programs.” —Lt. Mike Fossmo, West Valley City Police Department.
By training with VirTra, officers engage in difficult situations and practice ways to verbally de-escalate a situation. Depending on their actions and words, the scenario will branch numerous times to corollate for more realistic outcomes. This allows law enforcement officers to see how to best engage with a subject, gain control of a situation, communicate properly and diffuse any problems before a drastic outcome occurs—all in a safe, controlled de-escalated environment.
Watch their experience here:
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