[url]http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11370097[/URL]
CORPUS CHRISTI - The Nueces County Sheriff's Department has a new training tool for its officers.
The shooting simulator puts deputies in real life scenarios and teaches them how to react in emergency situations. There's 80 scenarios, each one puts the deputy in a different situation.
In one, he's faced with a woman who's planning to shoot an inmate coming into the courthouse.
The company, Laser Shot, installed the $27,000 system at the Nueces County Sheriff's Department this week. The department also ordered weapon replicas of what deputies carry.
The simulator covers every part of the job-traffic, court house, jail and investigations.
TROY HARRISON, "Each one of those has different outcomes. They can have up to five different outcomes so as you go through these you never see the same thing twice," Laser Shot's Troy Harrison said.
As the deputy begins the training scenarios, the supervisor sits behind the desktop and they're the ones who decide the outcome of the scenarios based on how the deputy reacts.
In some situations, the officer may be able to talk the suspect into backing down. However, in another, he has to use force.
"This is one of the most realistic systems I've seen," CCPD Chief John Galvan said.
Galvan said they'll use the simulator in training sessions right away. He said it can help deputies identify real threats and teach them how to make a decision quickly.
"It's very challenging and it really tests your observation skills and your shooting skills," Galvan said.
In addition, the effective crime fighting tool has another benefit: it could help the department save money in the long-run.
"The cost of ammunition and the ability to buy ammo is hard to come by now, so this gets you by without having to purchase ammunition," Harrison said.
"Most importantly, it didn't cost the taxpayer anything because we used our asset forfeiture fund monies to pay for this $27,000 system," Galvan said.
Laser Shot installed the new shooting simulator on Monday.
Supervisors with the sheriff's department have already learned how to use the simulator and have started training deputies.
CORPUS CHRISTI - The Nueces County Sheriff's Department has a new training tool for its officers.
The shooting simulator puts deputies in real life scenarios and teaches them how to react in emergency situations. There's 80 scenarios, each one puts the deputy in a different situation.
In one, he's faced with a woman who's planning to shoot an inmate coming into the courthouse.
The company, Laser Shot, installed the $27,000 system at the Nueces County Sheriff's Department this week. The department also ordered weapon replicas of what deputies carry.
The simulator covers every part of the job-traffic, court house, jail and investigations.
TROY HARRISON, "Each one of those has different outcomes. They can have up to five different outcomes so as you go through these you never see the same thing twice," Laser Shot's Troy Harrison said.
As the deputy begins the training scenarios, the supervisor sits behind the desktop and they're the ones who decide the outcome of the scenarios based on how the deputy reacts.
In some situations, the officer may be able to talk the suspect into backing down. However, in another, he has to use force.
"This is one of the most realistic systems I've seen," CCPD Chief John Galvan said.
Galvan said they'll use the simulator in training sessions right away. He said it can help deputies identify real threats and teach them how to make a decision quickly.
"It's very challenging and it really tests your observation skills and your shooting skills," Galvan said.
In addition, the effective crime fighting tool has another benefit: it could help the department save money in the long-run.
"The cost of ammunition and the ability to buy ammo is hard to come by now, so this gets you by without having to purchase ammunition," Harrison said.
"Most importantly, it didn't cost the taxpayer anything because we used our asset forfeiture fund monies to pay for this $27,000 system," Galvan said.
Laser Shot installed the new shooting simulator on Monday.
Supervisors with the sheriff's department have already learned how to use the simulator and have started training deputies.
