COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Colorado Springs Police officers now have a new set of tools to help officers be more prepared on the field.
The U.S. Department of Justice awarded the city of Colorado Springs a federal grant to purchase a new Virtual Reality system.
"It feels like you are actually on a real call for service," said Sgt. Marcus Van Ooyen with CSPD Training Division.
The VR simulation program was launched this June. Van Ooyen says the goal is to expose officers to more than 50 possible scenarios that they may encounter.
"Legal authority, de-escalation, critical decision making. All these different topics that we teach officers are putting it all in one," Van Ooyen said.
Michael Williams, Executive Director of the social justice organization "Citizens Project," says the VR training is a step.
"Building relationship and trust with the community will be a little bit easier to de-escalate something with somebody you know," Williams said.
Van Ooyen says the biggest goal this year is to get everyone through the program and make it more realistic.
"It's a step in the right direction," Ooyen said.
Colorado Springs Police say more than 200 officers have gone through this simulation so far. The plan is to have every officer train at least once or if not more.
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