By Janet Jacobs
There is a lot of “routine” in a police officer’s daily shift. Then, there is the “unexpected,” when an officer must rely solely on training and instinct.
A training session on how to handle dangerous situations safely took place at the Corsicana Police Academy Tuesday.
The ultimate goal is to make sure no one gets hurt, including police officers and suspects, explained Todd Townsend, trainer with the Texas Municipal League.
“This is brand new for TML, it just started in October,” he said.
The training includes using interactive video, with power point presentations and lectures, as well as live scenarios with the police officers themselves. Similar to a live video game, the officers used real guns, pepper spray and tasers that had their mechanisms replaced with lasers instead of bullets, gas and electricity. The lasers showed up in the video replays as “hits” on the screen.
“It’s a safe, realistic environment where officers can respond,” Townsend said, adding: “If you make a mistake in here, you won’t make it in the field. It is a safe learning environment.”
After each reenactment, the officers are critiqued by their fellow officers, which is also part of the learning experience, he said.
“Where better to make mistakes than with a group of your friends where they can critique you?” Townsend said.
In the Tuesday morning session were about 20 officers from Corsicana and Gun Barrel City, both young and seasoned.
Although high-tech and advanced, the training is free to Texas Municipal League members such as Corsicana. In all, the training will go to 784 police departments throughout the state. The trainers go to a different city every day, Townsend said.
Two officers who reenacted stopping a bank robbery looked shaken, but confident they had handled it correctly, and Townsend congratulated them, while other officers applauded.
“It is fun, and the officers have a blast,” Townsend said.
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