A suburban hotel ballroom was recently transformed into a police training ground. Officers navigated their way through active shooter scenarios, uncooperative suspects and mass casualty situations with the help of virtual reality.
"You need touch at some point; but from a strategic perspective we can do anything in the real world in virtual reality; but we can change it at the push of a button," said retired NYPD training and counter-terrorism leader Ray McPartland. He now works for a company called V-Armed that conducts trainings across the country.
"These guys are very different than when I started, they're born with cell phones in their hands and they gravitate to this type of training," McPartland said before donning a virtual reality headset and leading officers through several situations as well de-escalation techniques.
It's not just "shoot or don't shoot" scenarios that have been common in law enforcement training for years, the VR training simulated a shooting at a shopping center that forced officers to face fleeing crowds, triage the injured and seek out threats.
"Screaming people running by - you deal with injured people on the ground - you have to take time and assess your next move," observed Oak Brook police sergeant Andrew Franczak still sweaty from the scenario. He said training creates reflex which helps control chaotic situations.
"It's not a blank slate, you have reps you've done to help you through that scenario," he said.
The International Council of Shopping Centers and the Oak Brook shopping center paid for 80 officers from 18 departments to participate in the virtual reality training.
"They realize the real world applications and benefits for us to be able to train on these types of scenarios that can benefit them in the future," said Oak Brook police chief Brian Strockis.
Several police leaders stood along the ballroom's walls watching officers battle virtual bad guys marveling at how training has changed since their days as young officers.
"When I was training in the 90's we had to go through hard walls and spend a lot of money," said Villa Park police chief Mike Rivas. "We had to find adequate space for it. This, you don't really need any of that."
V-Armed says its scenarios can be customized to include locations such as sports stadiums, government buildings or an Olympic village for the most realistic training ahead of major events.
Oak Brook, Willowbrook, Villa Park, Naperville, Elmhurst and the DuPage County sheriff's department were just a few of the departments that participated.