Recruits and instructors with the Law Enforcement Academy at Georgia Piedmont Technical College have new, potentially life-saving training equipment in their arsenal. The nearly $163,000 virtual shoot house simulator is now in place at the Law Enforcement Academy at GPTC’s Newton campus in Covington. Funds for the 180-degree simulator from Ti Training were secured through a federal grant from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
According to the grant application, “the four-room virtual simulation house will help new recruits learn how to safely interact with subjects in a safe manner and practice shoot/don’t shoot scenarios to include situations where de-escalation tactics must be applied to reduce the use of deadly force.”
Following the simulator training, recruits are then debriefed by instructors and trainers.
“Placing our recruits in these types of situations help imitate real life scenarios, which cannot be replicated in a traditional classroom setting,” said GPTC Police Chief Christopher Hughes. “With the ever-growing concern and reports of deadly force situations in our world today, it is incumbent on us to consistently improve training for officers. Officers revert to their training when forced to make split-second decisions in rapidly evolving, life-or-death situations. The academy must provide that solid, reliable foundation.”
The simulator, known as a shoot house, allows Law Enforcement Academy students to advance throughout the “walls” as projectors turn on and display the next portion of the scenario either in that particular room or in successive rooms. This allows officers to move through realistic spaces that they would come across in the field — like a home, business, or school.
The police department at Georgia Piedmont Technical College has 16 sworn officers, with three staff members running the POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) certified and only CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) certified police academy in the State of Georgia. The popularity of the LEA program has increased so much that the program is now being offered at the GPTC Clarkston campus as well as the main LEA location in Covington.
For more information on the Law Enforcement Academy or their new virtual shoot-house simulator, contact GPTC Police Chief Christopher Hughes at 404-297-9522, ext. 1569 or email hughesc@gptc.edu.
Original source can be found here.
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