A Simulated Experience, But a Realistic Lesson

I’m part of the old school generation that grew up with the rectangular Nintendo controller in my hand. It didn't take long before I became a master of mashing the “A” and “B” buttons.

As time progressed, my taste in video games advanced as next generation systems continued to roll out, and there were more buttons to smash. For others in my age bracket, Tuesday’s Citizen’s Police Academy class was right up our alley.

We traveled down to the Waukesha County Technical College to get hands-on virtual training in driving simulators, and tested our shot in the MILO situation trainer.

that I am far from a marksman with a Glock 21. However, I’ve had years of training firing brightly colored plastic pistols, and I never failed to bring in a good yield in “Duck Hunt.” This would be easy.

All video game references aside, the simulators we tried are important tools used to teach officers real-life lessons in a safe way. After going through the simulators, I realized my multi-tasking skills are not up to snuff to be an officer.

Where's your head at?

The MILO simulator projects a real call an officer would respond to onto a giant screen. Human actors play the parts of bank robbers, domestic violence perpetrators, or even an armed gunman rampaging through an office. With our guns drawn, we entered a situation and needed to use the right verbal commands and procedures an officer would use.

If necessary, we would use deadly force.

My partner and I entered the scene of a domestic violence dispute. We greeted a woman who had a black eye and was a bit frantic. Suddenly, a man came from the kitchen wielding a knife, and the woman ran back toward the bedrooms. Fortunately, the man eventually put down the knife and the situation was diffused without us firing a shot.

We passed the scenario with flying colors, right? Wrong. Our attention was focused on the woman who had been hit and the man with a knife. However, the entire time another person was lying on the couch face down to our right. We didn’t even know she was there until we were asked after the simulation ended.

Did she have a weapon?

Was she injured?

We sure didn't know.

It was a teaching moment for us, and that’s how officers use the MILO simulator to advance their training. They can break down your performance as an officer, and critique the smallest details. These are details that could mean the difference between a successful call, and a trip to the hospital. Each scenario can be programmed with different outcomes.

We didn’t know that woman was there because we failed to survey the entire situation. I also made the big mistake of putting my finger on the trigger the entire time. My finger should have been placed outside the trigger, but in a tense situation that’s just where I placed it.

That was my first multi-tasking fail.

The second time, we changed the scenario. This time, the man came charging at us with the knife, and we put him down. My partner, who was on point and not giving verbal commands fired five rounds. I got two shots off. My mind was focused on speaking and giving commands, and my reactions were a bit delayed.

That's why two officers enter a scene. Mere seconds are valuable in this line of duty.

After we fired, we saw the display of all our shots. My partner hit the man with a fatal shot on the first trigger squeeze, but kept firing. Why? It was another teaching moment at the Citizen's Academy. It's a phenomena known as reactionary firing. Although the man was falling down, he kept shooting becasue there was still movement and his mind had not processed what had happened yet.

I never imagined so much could be gleaned from a two-minute simulation.

Behind the wheel training - kind of

Then, we moved over to the driving simulators, and my inability to do three things at once was once again exposed.

The squad car simulator is fully decked out with a power seat, full dashboard, a police computer and even air vents. I was in the squad and was parked in a downtown area and observed a white van blow through a stoplight.

I hit the gas and began pursuing. I was blowing stop signs, yanking the vehicle around corners a bit too fast, and driving at excessive speeds.I was going to catch this guy just like they do in the movies.

As I was in the midst of hot pursuit, I was tapped on the shoulder and reminded to put the sirens on, and pick up the radio and call in what I was doing. Whoops.

As I tried to keep the white van in my vision, identify the streets I was traveling on, and avoid other vehicles and pedestrians, it got ugly. Even in a simulator, my nerves flared up a bit and I got caught up in the glory of the chase. I had one thing on my mind, and that was catching the perp.

However, in the process I may have cost the village thousands in underbody repairs to the squad, endangered the safety of countless drivers, and violated numerous traffic laws.

Another fail. I’m no good as an officer if I simply hurt others or myself in the process of ensuring public safety.

Needless to say, it was a fun evening shooting fake criminals and pursuing the lawless in a squad car. However, it also made me realize my choice to pursue journalism as a career, rather than a police officer, was a far better choice for society in general. 

No matter what situation an officer faces, believe me, they are thinking of 10 different things at once. I’ll stick to one or two things at once.