Tucson Police Department held their officer training at the police academy Thursday.
Training has always been part of TPD but on a limited basis.
Now, community members can take part in the training and act as role payers giving police more opportunties to train officers.
TPD Training this afternoon.... pic.twitter.com/Z6DM9bK8Gc
— Jennifer Martinez (@Jennymartineztv) June 29, 2017
"It gives officers a realistic sense on what they will encounter on the field and the skills that they have practiced in the field and make them better," says Christopher Dennison, Lieutenant with the Tucson Police Department.
On Thursday, 25 officers were put through six real life scenarios, including:
- De-escalation
- Communication and critical decision skills
- Officer safety
- Basic use of force
"Everyone of these scenarios is actually representative of what officers have encountered in day-to-day police work," says Dennison.
Lastly, officer partake in a firearms training simulator called "Virtra" with more than 150 scenarios.
Firearms training simulator .... #tpdtraining pic.twitter.com/GmeAMLRXot
— Jennifer Martinez (@Jennymartineztv) June 29, 2017
After each scenario, officers are debriefed on how they could have handled situations differently.
Dennison says, "If they make mistakes here, we can correct those mistakes before they're out in the field."
If you would like to volunteer as a role player, click here.
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