After a public crisis, communities do everything they can to come together and support those affected. Often times, this puts a focus on involved agencies and what their responses to situations would be.

Agencies across the nation will also have some pressure on them from their own communities asking, “Are you prepared if this were to happen here?” In these cases, having a proper community response is crucial.

One effective and engaging way to respond is to showcase the intensive training that the department goes through to make sure they are prepared for a crisis.

Communications Options

Agency communications divisions have options in how they could present their crisis training to the public. Whether through social media posts, in-person presentations or more – departments should choose the method that works best for them and simultaneously engages their audience

Using  social media could look like posting videos of teams walking through their exercises, pictures of officers actively training, quotes from teams and trainers about the benefits that their training is having on them, and more. Social media presents a variety of ways to share this content.

Inviting community members to participate in training exercises may also be effective. Citizen’s academies are a great tool for this. Teams and trainers would be able to  explain the benefits of their training while also teaching and training citizens in some of the stressful situations officers face.

Educating the public is another great tool. Agencies could host this event, equipped with a presentation explaining the training and having teams and trainers go up and share their testimonies. It is also a good way to bring the community together post-crisis.

There are various ways to execute this and each way would show the community that agencies are committed to their safety and that they are there for them in hard times.

Realistic Simulation Training

Departments should have the best quality of situational training set in place for their teams.  When a crisis presents, officers can respond quickly, effectively, and safely for everyone involved. making sure to get as many people home safely as possible.

VirTra’s training simulators are equipped with our nationally-certified curriculum, V-VICTA®. This curriculum includes training scenarios such as Active Threat/Active Killer (ATAK), Crisis De-escalation, Contact and Cover Concepts, and more. Each scenario is built with extensive branching options for officers to learn how the split-second decisions that they make can drastically change any situation.

Teams explore the scenarios in our fully immersive simulators, making them feel like they are on an active scene and experiencing it in real life and real time. Realistic training is of utmost importance when training for a crisis and VirTra’s simulation training implements that for departments so that they are ready to protect themselves and their community at all times.

To learn more about VirTra’s training, contact a specialist. Stay safe.

By: Nicole Florisi – VirTra Subject Matter Expert; Investigative Focus

Originally published in July 2022 IADLEST Newsletter 

If you are having a panic attack, do you want me to support you or have a panic attack with you? The answer seems simple, obvious really. But it isn’t that simple in practice. If it were, there wouldn’t be a host of research on vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress from empathetic engagement with trauma survivors. In fact, everyone who empathetically engages with trauma survivors has the potential to be affected.

What are some signs of vicarious trauma?

• Over-identification with the victim
• Becoming over-emotionally involved with the victim
• Experiencing lingering feelings of anger, rage, and sadness for the victim’s circumstances
• Difficulty in maintaining professional boundaries with the victim
• Feelings of hopelessness, sadness, anger, pessimism
• Loss of objectivity

Sound familiar? It should. First responders frequently engage with trauma victims. First responders empathetically engage with trauma victims. Why? Because we are trained and told to do so. Empathy-based training is a law enforcement foundation and focus. But if you knew that empathy contributed to vicarious trauma and depressive symptoms, would you change that?

Empathy is considered a requirement for law enforcement officers. A core skill for good leaders. A key component of emotional intelligence. The panacea for building relationships, building rapport, and enhancing the likelihood of positive outcomes. From a training perspective and more importantly, a trauma-informed perspective, the implementation of empathy is not that simple.

Our goal as leaders, instructors, and coaches should be to mitigate trauma for first responders, not add to it. The intent to add trauma may not be purposeful, but the framework is. Empathy creates the potential for vicarious trauma. We have to acknowledge this before we can change it.

What is empathy?

At the core, empathy is the ability to share and understand the feelings of others. The goal of empathy is to deepen understanding, increase communication, and create space for individuals to be heard. Empathy is a foundation in many facets of communication, from the implementation of Active Listening Skills to the Behavioral Influence Stairway Model.

The concept of empathy is taught as a foundation in the application of different de-escalation tactics for law enforcement. Every de-escalation class I have attended has had empathy as a core skill, but none of those same classes teaches it in practice. In fact, I have never had any class that “teaches” empathy and most of you haven’t either. Why is that? Teaching empathy requires a level of
questioning, self-reflection, introspection, and emotional self-regulation that doesn’t happen in the time constraints of an 8-hour law enforcement training.

There are two types of empathy: cognitive and affective.

Cognitive empathy is the ability to identify and understand the emotions of another. Affective empathy is the ability to share feelings and sensations in response to another person’s pain. Other components of empathy are affective sharing; the natural capacity to become affectively aroused from another person’s emotions, empathic concern; the motivation of caring for another’s welfare
(self-serving or not), and perspective taking; the ability to consciously put yourself into the mind of another individual and imagine what that person is thinking and feeling.

There are numerous definitions for empathy and all of them concerning from a trauma perspective: share the feelings of another, walk in another person’s shoes, see the world through another person’s eyes, imagine what it’s like to be that person, see the world through another’s lens, vicariously experience the feelings of another. Another definition for empathy is “engaged suffering.” I do not want that for officers. Neither should you.

First responders are exposed to trauma on a level that no human being should ever experience. The argument of “that is what they signed up for” holds no weight. The trauma and stressors exist regardless. We have a responsibility to mitigate and prevent the trauma. Instead, we purposely provide officers with unbridled empathy-based training that creates an environment for vicarious trauma and depressive symptoms.

This is the nexus where empathy in practice creates trauma in reality. Forced human connection. Forced connections through trauma.

Ask yourself this. How much time do you want your officers to spend immersed in the trauma of those who they serve? If you aren’t answering that question with “none” then there is a problem. The longer we sit with the trauma of others, the more likely we will experience our own vicarious trauma.

Affective empathy is associated with depressive symptoms and an increase in vulnerability to depression. Distress increases when there is engaged suffering with someone. Secondary traumatic stress increases with empathetic listening. If we don’t address the weaknesses of empathy, we set our officers up for failure. Empathy allows for emotional resonance, the connection of “feeling with.” That sounds like it shouldn’t be an issue. The problem? “Feeling with” allows for emotional contagion. Where do people, including officers, make catastrophically poor decisions? When they lose critical and consequential decision-making skills which happens during emotional contagion, emotional overload, and over-emotional investment.

Empathy can enhance bias, including racial bias. Empathy plays favorites. We are more likely to align with those we like, those who are like us, those we have commonalities with, and those we find attractive, etc. It is more difficult to empathize with people who are not like us, who frighten us or disgust us. Functional MRI (fMRI) studies indicate that watching a person in pain can elicit
the same neurological response in the person watching. However, empathy disappears when it is someone disliked or hated. Instead, this can actually stimulate the pleasure center of the brain in lieu of an empathetic response.

One of the most understated tools of empathy is emotional manipulation. Officers are not always aware of these manipulation tactics, but this arises in certain populations, especially in personality disorders. Empathy can create a rush to judgment and allows for a misidentification of your wants versus another person’s needs.

Empathy is the act of experiencing the world as you think someone else does. We need to balance the weaknesses in empathy with resiliency. We would be much better rooting officers in a mindset of compassion combined with resiliency skills to prevent and mitigate trauma

 

References

• Adler-Tapia, R. (2020). One badge, one brain, one life.
• Bloom, P. (2016). Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion, Harper Collins, New York, New York.
• Decety, J., & Cowell, J. M. (2015). Empathy, justice, and moral behavior. AJOB neuroscience, 6(3), 3–14.
• Hamilton, A.B.B., & Breithaupt, F. (2019). The Dark Sides of Empathy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Jenkins, S.R., Baird, S. Secondary Traumatic Stress and Vicarious Trauma: A Validational Study. J Trauma Stress 15, 423– 432 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020193526843
• Moudatsou, M., Stavropoulou, A., Philalithis, A., & Koukouli, S. (2020). The Role of Empathy in Health and Social Care Professionals. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 8(1), 26.
• Norhayati MN, Che Yusof R, Azman MY. Vicarious traumatization in healthcare providers in response to COVID-19 pandemic in Kelantan, Malaysia. PLoS One. 2021 Jun 4;16 (6):e0252603. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252603. PMID: 34086747; PMCID: PMC8177457.
• Pearlman LA, McKay L. Understanding & addressing vicarious trauma. Pasadena: Headington Institute; 2008.
• Sinclair, S., Beamer, K., Hack, T. F., McClement, S., Bouchal, S. R., & Chochinov, H. M. (2017). Sympathy, Empathy, and Compassion: A Grounded Theory Study of Palliative Care Patients’ Understandings, Experiences, and Preferences. Palliative Medicine, 31, 437-447.
• Whitton M. (2018). Vicarious traumatization in the workplace: a meta-analysis on the impact of social support. New Zealand: The University of Waikato.
• Yan, Z., Zeng, X., Su, J., & Zhang, X. (2021). The dark side of empathy: Meta-analysis evidence of the relationship between empathy and depression. PsyCh journal, 10(5), 794–804.

Law enforcement encounter a variety of individuals during their careers. While substance use and mental illness are discussed and trained for, there are also certain medical conditions and diseases that can affect normal communication. These conditions and diseases must also be taught to officers to prepare them to help any and every individual in their community.

For example, neurocognitive disorders (NCD’s) affect memory, understanding, task performance and much more¹. The most overwhelmingly common NCD is Alzheimer’s Disease, and in the past all NCD’s were classified as dementia, when in fact there are multiple types and levels. NCD’s are typically associated with the elderly since it is most prevalent in people 65 years of age are older, but it is not exclusive to this age group.

The way NCD’s work is by causing damage to brain cells. The damage gradually makes symptoms more and more noticeable over time. Sometimes it is not immediately apparent that someone has an NCD – at times it takes a few moments for signs to appear. In general, symptoms law enforcement officers may notice and want to look out for include:

• Memory impairment
• Difficulty concentrating
• Getting lost or misplacing items frequently
• Poor judgment in decision making

Some of these symptoms do not always reflect Alzheimer’s or other similar diseases, but also traumatic brain injury or substance abuse. Law enforcement officers must also be aware that those with NCD’s have the possibility of becoming verbally or physically aggressive.

Officers can strategically communicate with those who have NCD’s by doing the following²:

• Identify yourself
• Speak slowly and non-threatening
• Ask one question at a time, allowing the individual to respond
• Repeat questions and phrases as necessary
• Avoid confrontation

‘Neurocognitive Disorders’ is a section of VirTra’s “Mental Illness” curriculum. With a 12-page instructor guide, slideshow presentation and testing materials, law enforcement instructors can familiarize trainees with dementia and NCD’s. The coursework is designed to be used alongside simulated scenarios to allow ‘learning by doing.’

The entire “Mental Illness” set of V-VICTA® curriculum contains 15 hours of detailed coursework certified by IADLEST. To learn about how V-VICTA can be incorporated into your department’s training, contact a specialist.

 

References:

1. Psychology Today. (2019). Neurocognitive Disorders (Mild and Major). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/neurocognitive-disorders-mild-and-major
2. Alzheimer’s Association. (2006). Safe Return, Alzheimer’s disease: Guide for Law Enforcement. Retrieved from https://www.alz.org/national/documents/SafeReturn_lawenforcement.pdf

As science discovers more about autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it becomes clearer how to communicate with autistic individuals. Because of a lack of knowledge of their unique communication needs, there have been unfortunate events in the past involving police officers and the autistic community. To reduce these incidents and ensure trust between the autistic community and law enforcement, steps have been taken to educate officers.

Law enforcement agencies around the United States are beginning to take advantage of various educational resources to understand ASD. One of the methods is through VirTra’s V-VICTA™ curriculum titled “Autism Awareness.” This 2-hour course — a collaboration between VirTra and Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC) — includes scenarios and video walkthroughs. The goal is teaching law enforcement officers how to recognize the signs of autism and communicate appropriately.

Success Stories

An example of a successful approach was done by Utah Attorney General’s Office (UAG), who inspired Utah agencies to adopt the Autism Awareness training program. They have recently won the Best of State award for their Virtual Reality Training Center and the lessons officers learn from it – from Autism Awareness to de-escalation and use-of-force tactics. The framed award is pictured below.

Additionally, in September 2021, UAG Sean Reyes was awarded with the First Annual Autism Award for their efforts in making the community a safer place. As its name suggests, it was the first award of its kind and was awarded to UAG due to the impact they have made in educating law enforcement members about autism.

Law Enforcement Autism Curriculum

Some of the tips that officers can learn through VirTra’s Autism Awareness coursework includes recognizing the signs, making sure communication is clear and ensuring the person is comfortable during the encounter. It is no question that law enforcement around the country want to create a good relationship with the public, including those with special needs. Using the coursework’s tests, training manual, presentations and more, the goal is to maintain trust with the community.

To learn more about how VirTra can help law enforcement better understand ASD, contact a product specialist.

How a person learns evolves over time, yet simultaneously stays the same. Learning is also complicated, yet one of the simplest concepts to understand. And though learning is both easy and difficult, it is up to instructors to understand its nuances and create the best learning environment for their trainees.

In creating the best learning environment, instructors can rely on the social learning theory described by Albert Bandura. It describes how people learn socially through observing, modeling, then imitating the behavior and reactions of those around us. Or simply: monkey see, monkey do. It can also be from the perspective, “Don’t do what that monkey did!”

For a moment, think of a child. How do they learn how to act, move, communicate, the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs,’ and the rules of life? It is all learned through observation. Children follow their models, which often begins with parents and siblings and later branches out to friends, teachers, book and TV characters and so forth. After observation comes action, where children mimic the learned behaviors. Depending on if the behavior is met with a punishment or a reward, the behavior is then reinforced or discarded.

As children grow up, so does their form of learning. Now, observational learning comes with an extra step: thought before action. This new consideration helps people to improve themselves, as they think through possible outcomes rather than immediately imitating a presented behavior. After determining and performing the best course of action, they then become a model for others—bringing the social learning theory full circle.

While officers are full-grown adults, and not the children in this example, social learning theory still applies to training. Starting at the beginning, the V-VICTA™ curriculum my team and I create heavily promotes observation. It is recommended to have one officer complete a skill drill or training scenario with the rest of the class watching using a rubric for evaluation. Depending on how the first officer performed, those watching know which actions are important, which actions to mimic, which to avoid and overall, how to create a better outcome. While the first few officers may stumble and err, the remaining officers improve techniques and together everyone learns. This allows for larger numbers of officers to obtain high quality training with great time management.

Throughout this training, instructors act as the ‘parents’ or the ‘prime’, so to speak. It is the instructor’s job to reward positive actions or ‘punish’ potentially dangerous actions—either praising the behavior, describing the error in debrief or immediately providing a real-life consequence, such as an electric shock delivered by a Threat-Fire® device. Training after this manner helps reinforce correct training and make these lessons second-nature once officers are in the field.

Learning can be either complicated or simple; it all depends on how instructors approach the task. Creating an environment that places a heavier emphasis on observation before performing—our earliest form of learning—could be the greatest asset in your classroom.

 

Written by: Lon Bartel; VirTra Director of Training & Curriculum

Lon Bartel spent 20 years as an officer, where he spent 12 of those years as a Rangemaster and 18 years as a certified law enforcement trainer. Now, as an IADLEST Nationally Certified Instructor and Force Science certified Use of Force Analyst and Advanced Specialist, Lon works to create powerful training curriculum for law enforcement.

 

References:

Bandura, Albert. “Social-Learning Theory of Identificatory Processes.” Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research, Rand McNally & Company, 1969.

McLeod, S. A. (2016, February 05). Bandura – social learning theory. Simply Psychology.

Suicide by cop, often abbreviated to SBC, is an event that has two victims: the suicidal subject and the officer. These calls are incredibly difficult for everyone involved and officers must be prepared to handle any outcome. At the end of the day, law enforcement are forced with two major situations: maintaining safety and trying to de-escalate the subject.

SBC occurs when a suicidal individual engages in criminal behavior in an attempt to elicit lethal use of force from law enforcement. A 2019 article by The Washington Post estimates that about 100 fatal police shootings per year are SBC events. While occasionally some SBC subjects are armed with a firearm, many times they possess a knife or feign weapon possession.

There are different strategies used by individuals attempting SBC. Some of them plan ahead and orchestrate the situation while others occur due to a minor event that became escalated. For an integrated response, officers must take each call seriously and secure the scene appropriately. Only after can they determine the main problem and assess the risk of suicidality.

There are ways to talk a subject down and possibly prevent escalation:

• Provide reassurance
• Comply with reasonable requests
• Offer realistic optimism
• Consider non-lethal containment
• Be careful not to let one’s guard down or be baited

While it may seem like common knowledge, it must be remembered that a person attempting SBC is suffering from a mental illness or experiencing some type of crisis. De-escalation and crisis de-escalation training can be of great assistance during SBC calls.

VirTra offers multiple scenarios as well as V-VICTA™ NCP-certified curriculum to help officers prepare for harrowing calls. These are designed by VirTra’s subject matter experts and certified by IADLEST to ensure knowledge takeaway. Some courses that focus on SBC and related situations include De-Escalation, Crisis De-Escalation and Mental Illness.

To allow your agency to experience a higher standard in training, contact a product specialist.

It sounds like a simple concept – one officer is a contact officer and another is the cover officer. The truth is, these concepts and principles arose from a number of unfortunate incidents in law enforcement where the contact and cover roles were blurred or even non-existent. Each officer has a role and responsibilities that are vital to safety and must be understood.

A tragic event in 1984 laid the groundwork for contact and cover principles. Officers Timothy Ruopp and Kimberly Tonahill of San Diego PD lost their lives on duty when apprehending two subjects for a misdemeanor charge. While Ruopp was writing the subjects a citation, Tonahill began conducting a Terry Frisk on one subject who overpowered her and shot both officers with a handgun. What went wrong? The contact officer, Tonahill, was not being observed or protected since Ruopp was focused on writing the citations.

Duties and Responsibilities of Contact & Cover Officers

A contact officer must:

• Communicate, contain and control the subject(s)
• Search and arrest subject(s)
• Communicate with the cover officer and dispatch
• Primarily assigned the use of less-lethal force options

The cover officer must:

• Protect the contact officer
• Remain aware of surroundings and third parties
• Relay intelligence to contact officer
• Provides lethal cover

It is important to reiterate that role switching is acceptable, but blurring the roles is not. Teamwork is mandatory and effective communication between officers, to subjects and to dispatch is imperative. Officers must monitor and maintain proper positioning and appropriate distancing. At times, subjects may need to be moved to help the cover officer observe.

All of these points and many more are mentioned in the Contact and Cover Concepts V-VICTA™ curriculum. This course is 3 hours of NCP certified material certified by IADLEST. Like other V-VICTA curriculum, Contact and Cover Concepts includes a training manual, associated simulator scenarios, a presentation, testing materials and more.

To learn how to incorporate Contact and Cover Concepts and the vital principles covered within the curriculum, contact a product specialist.

Are you familiar with the phrase “do as I say, not as I do?”

While this phrase may be heard among parents raising children, it should not be used in officer training. It is well known that teaching by example is one of the most powerful forms of training, not hypocrisy among one’s own instruction. After all, instruction that does not reflect one’s action can cause confusion—something you don’t want among those sworn to protect our communities.

Training must be as realistic as possible for skill building, skill transfer to the field and maximum safety of our officers and nation.

Realistic Officer Training

More than training by example, the principle of realistic training also encompasses training tools and accessories. If you were to perform a Google search for law enforcement training, you would receive a medley of training options on the market: simulation, virtual reality (VR), Force-on-Force, various classroom instruction and so forth.

Having a variety of training selections—especially with different price ranges, sizes and department customization options—is beneficial. But which of these options are actually cost-effective and realistic, and how does your department determine this?

The biggest indicator of a training option’s realism is how it compares to life in the field. As such, officers must be equipped with all of the accessories they normally have on their belt, must be immersed physically and psychologically, experience stress and practice engaging in challenging situations.

Finding the Best Training Option

While simplified, the list creates categories for departments to compare each training option against. For example: Does it allow officers to train utilizing the entire toolbelt? Does it immerse officers physically and psychologically? Does it cause stress by portraying challenging situations? Fortunately, VirTra’s judgmental use of force and de-escalation simulations allow departments to check “yes” next to each question.

How about VR? This one is a bit more difficult, as it depends on the specific VR product, what accessories each individual company produces, etc. Some companies have tethered accessories and/or produce video game-like visuals. Both of these make achieving physical and psychological fidelity difficult to achieve, meaning learning is less likely to occur.

As an instructor, it is your job to ensure officers are provided the most realistic training possible. When searching for a new training option, decide the most critical components needed in training before checking out companies. After, compare each company’s products to your list of needs. If possible, find a way to test their training scenarios for yourself and see if it initiates appropriate levels of body alarm response in yourself and your cadre.

If you would be interested in learning more about VirTra, or participating in a demonstration, contact a representative.

Training should be challenging. Period.

Easy training does not teach individuals, it does not force them to learn, grow, mess up and learn from mistakes. Instead, training needs to be as challenging as it is encompassing of many different topics. For police, this includes a wider variety of topics and the important nature of these subjects.

One critical lesson is verbal de-escalation.

Factors in Verbal De-Escalation

Verbal de-escalation is more complex than the public may imagine, as it is considerably more than simply asking subjects if they are okay, how they can help or if they are willing to remain calm. Instead, the correct dialogue depends on the situation, subject, the subject’s state of mind and even the tone the officer uses.

Tone is an important part of verbal de-escalation, though it isn’t discussed much. Imagine a situation where a subject is debating whether or not to end their life by jumping off a bridge. As the first responder, it is your job to talk them down—literally and figuratively.

What an officer chooses to say is magnified by the tone they use. In this situation, if an officer injected heavy amounts of false sympathy in their voice, the suicidal subject might see this as mistrust or mockery. Or if an officer used the proper phrases with little to no feeling, the subject could interpret it as sarcasm or lack of concern. Tone can greatly improve a situation or cause it to devolve—fast.

Training De-Escalation Tactics

This is where VirTra’s training simulators make a difference in the classroom. Instructors can program the simulator to run scenarios ranging from high-stake situations to mental illness interactions. Trainees can engage the subjects and attempt to defuse the situation using known de-escalation techniques, or opt for less lethal or lethal options as a last resort.

If an officer is attempting to build a rapport with the subject, instructors can choose to reward the student’s behavior and de-escalate the scenario. However, if an officer’s words or tone are too aggressive, the instructor can choose an escalating branch built within the scenario to show the trainee the consequences.

An officer’s verbal ability is another tool on their toolbelt and can mean the difference between having to fight a subject or talking him into a set of handcuffs peacefully. By training your department in proper de-escalation techniques with VirTra you can potentially decrease police use of force incidents.

If you have any questions or would like a demonstration, contact a VirTra representative.

“Bridge Baby” is one of VirTra’s most difficult scenarios, as a simple mistake performed by an officer could quickly result in the death of a child or the subject.

The premise of the scenario is simple. Officers are dispatched to a bridge where a distraught father is threatening to throw his baby over the side. However, getting the upset father to set down his child, to calm down and listen to officer instructions is the difficult part. Depending on the officer’s actions, the father will comply with the officer, throw the child over the edge, commit suicide or shoot at the officer.

A difficult situation, yes, but an excellent one in teaching the power of verbal de-escalation.

For Sgt. Nick Shephard, Volusia County PD, he speaks calmly and gently to the subject in the scenario, “Absolutely, I care. Nothing more I care about right now than you, trust me.” As a result, the scenario branches and the man sets his child safely on the ground, then submits to being arrested.

What is remarkable about this story is how an increase in de-escalation training, as Sheriff Mike Chitwood credits, has produced a decline in police use of force incidents within their county. Sheriff Chitwood requires all new officers to engage in 40 hours of crisis intervention classes, which heavily promotes de-escalation while reducing “warrior mentality”. This program includes running officers through the VirTra system, practicing de-escalating each scenario by engaging in various tactics.

Another remarkable element of the story is how this change was inspired by Sheriff Chitwood’s trip to Scotland in 2015, where he saw and has since implemented new strategies to minimize the need for less lethal and lethal force in Tulliallan Castle, Police Scotland’s training center and headquarters. Now, years later with national cries for increased de-escalation training, Sheriff Chitwood’s officers are already armed with this increased knowledge.

Since implementing these changes, as this article states, “from 2017 to 2019, as the number of calls to authorities remained steady…the recorded frequency of Volusia deputies’ using force fell by nearly half, from 122 annual incidents to 65.”

De-escalation training must be a critical component to any department’s training regimen. VirTra understands this and has created training simulators and curriculum that teach not only de-escalation, but also marksmanship, less lethal, skill drills and other critical skills—thus rounding out any officer’s training.

To learn more about VirTra’s de-escalation scenarios, or the training simulator as a whole, contact a VirTra Specialist.