I figured that out first-hand when I tried the Denver Police Department's new video training simulator. (The answer is five times, by the way.)
The system simulates personalized scenarios, from traffic stops to mass shootings, to let trainees practice responding to high-pressure situations. The immersive tool teaches officers how their decisions influence outcomes, recording and playing back the simulations to show how they could have responded better, such as de-escalating a conflict or minimizing loss of life.
"Officers have to make split-second decisions. This is not as immediate as the real world, but it is as close as we can get in a training-based location," says Division Chief Magen Dodge of the Denver Police Training Academy, who hosted our group on Tuesday, March 25.
The nonprofit Denver Police Foundation donated the $110,000 Ti Training simulator to the police department two months ago. It is now used by recruits and tenured officers in training at the Denver Police Training Academy.
It replaced the department's VirTra training simulator, which the Denver Police Foundation purchased for $375,000 in 2016. Though cheaper, the new simulator is more technologically advanced, with movable panels, improved graphics, an additional screen behind officers, and the option to use props including pepper spray, tasers and guns.
"This one is absolutely immersive. It's an incredible experience," says Megan Pletcher, executive director of the Denver Police Foundation. "This one is very responsive, very realistic, you don't get the glitches that you had with the old one."
The simulator depicts a suicidal man pouring gasoline on his head, threatening to set himself on fire (left). The man's words and actions are chosen by Corporal Jason Moore (right).
Hannah Metzger
The experience began with an angry, hyper-realistic-looking man getting out of a Jeep, yelling at me: "Hey! Why'd you pull me over? I didn't do anything wrong." I asked for his license and registration; he told me "no." I asked for his name; he said "Scott."
Every time I spoke, Scott's responses were selected by Moore from over a dozen options. Depending on what scenario he wants to create for a trainee, Moore can make Scott aggressive or compliant. The situation can end in a ticket or in death — mine, Scott's or possibly both.
"It's a choose-your-own-adventure, basically," Dodge says. "The trainer will be reactive to what the officer is doing, so there is a direct correlation of cause and effect for the officer, which helps them learn and apply the theoretical skills that we have taught them in classroom work."
For me, Moore made Scott annoying. I introduced myself, explained that I pulled him over because he was speeding, and gave him my badge number when prompted. He yelled that he didn't do anything wrong and I again asked for his license. We went back and forth for around 45 seconds as he asked for my supervisor, told me to stop a real crime, and said I had nothing on him. Each time I requested his license, chuckling awkwardly (they didn't give me a script).
Scott climbed into his Jeep (I later learned I was supposed to try to stop him from doing that). When he came back out, he had a gun in his hand. Scott mostly kept the firearm at his side pointed toward the ground, but it waved higher as he screamed, "Look, you son of a bitch, I didn't do anything!"
I pointed my gun at Scott's chest and ordered him to drop the weapon. Six seconds of silence followed. I considered my options. Could I shoot him in the leg to incapacitate him without killing him? Or would that just make him angrier? Would he shoot me as he lay injured? Could I shoot the gun out of his hand like in the movies? Could I aim well enough to pull that off? I kept my gun focused on his heart.
"Fine!" Scott eventually yelled, throwing his weapon to the ground and putting his hands in the air. The exercise was over.
Did I pass? "Yeah, you did good," Moore says. According to Corporal Andrew Richmond, the goal of my scenario was to be patient and overcome frustration caused by a difficult suspect.
"I was shocked you didn't shoot," Richmond adds.
Not all of the simulations are intended to end peacefully, however. Richmond demonstrated another version of the Scott exercise where instead of complying, Scott began to slightly raise his gun — and Richmond shot him without hesitation. The decision seemed quick, almost premature. But if Richmond hadn't fired right then, Scott was programmed to kill him, Moore says.
Other exercises include an active shooter in a movie theater, an armed suspect fleeing the scene of a robbery, a suicidal man doused in gasoline threatening to light himself on fire, and a mentally ill man with a crowbar causing a disturbance in an alley. The first two end in the suspects' deaths, the last two are resolved peacefully.
Westword's Katrina Leibee tried a simulation of an active shooter in a shopping mall. She was killed in thirty seconds, immediately after she approached the suspect yelling "sir" (though she did land a shot on the gunman as she went down).
"This is the place to fail," Dodge says. "It's safe. There's no harm to yourself or the community. It's the place where you can try those skills and see what works and what does not work."
The new training simulator has the option to create personalized scenarios based on the unique needs of Denver police, Dodge says. They're waiting on requested simulations depicting cars driving toward officers and driving into large crowds of people.
The tool is especially useful as the Denver Police Department is committed to hiring 175 new officers this year, Dodge adds.
"You can only learn so much in a classroom," she says.
