NCJ Number
124628
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 57 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1990) Pages: 40-41,43-44
Date Published
1990
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Police trainees must be able to meet minimum firearm training requirements set by their agencies and demonstrate an understanding of the legal and moral issues involved with the use of a firearm while on duty.
Abstract
The best place to accomplish this is with the use of realistic and stressful confrontation scenarios. The Prince George's County, Maryland Police Department uses an instructor-intensive, computer-controlled, interactive video training program. There are several steps necessary to arrive at this level of training. The first step is to examine an officer's reaction time. The next step is to determine the officer's speed and ability to draw quickly and make effective shots from a realistic distance. The most important part of this program is judgment training in which the officer is subjected to a variety of role-play situations. After each scenario his actions are critiqued, and each element is identified. This gives the officer an understanding of the full scope of any critical situation. The interactive video training system teaches officers to judge their own ability and to look for danger signals to make successful shots quickly while taking cover, and to seek cover rather than to shoot it out.