Invaluable Tool
MILO Range’s new VR training program prepares officers for real-world situations.
By Christopher Cogley
MILO’s Virtual Reality (VR) training program takes realworld training to an entirely new level.
We live in a technological era where new advances have the potential to continuously improve the way we see the world, how we live our lives, and how we do our jobs. As challenging as it can be, the only way to effectively realize the advantages new technologies can offer us is to explore them with an open mind and a willingness to embrace new ideas and different ways of improving the standard operating procedures we’ve held onto for years.
Law enforcement is no different. New methods of training can provide law-enforcement departments of all sizes the opportunity to give their officers the best possible tools to keep them safe and make them more effective in a job that’s becoming more difficult with each passing year. One of the most efficient ways to accomplish that goal is the new Virtual Reality(VR)Training Program developed by MILO Range.
MILO Range has earned a solid reputation for developing and implementing some of the highest quality shooting ranges used by law-enforcement departments across the country. Earlier this year, however, MILO released a VR training program that takes real-world training to an entirely new level.
“This exciting new training simulator was carefully curated from our own 30 years of industry experience, researched with academic and subject matter experts, and tested and vetted by some of the most highly regarded law-enforcement agencies in the country,” says Robert McCue, executive director of MILO Group. “It augments our MILO Range systems with a more cognitive-centric format that increases officer presence, immersion, and situational awareness with its 360-degree environments and ultra-realistic scripts.”
The training program is pre-loaded with a wide range of customizable scenarios designed to prepare officers for the ever-changing landscape of real-world situations they might encounter on an everyday basis—especially when it comes to the use of force.
“At the end of the day, officers don’t want to use the tools on their belt to get the job done,” says Brian Klingenberg, VR product manager for MILO. “More thought should always be given to what you can do before you ever pull the gun out of your holster. VR training is an invaluable tool to help train officers in the best way to do that.”
With MILO’s VR training system, trainers can create a wide variety of real-world scenarios that allow participants to improve their skills at managing volatile situations without having to reach for the tools on their belt.
“The scenarios are highly relevant to law-enforcement agencies interested in improving officer de-escalation skills and capabilities, as well as critical thinking and decision-making under stress,” McCue says.
The way MILO’s VR accomplishes this goal so effectively is by using the high-tech visor and the incredibly life-like graphics to create the illusion that the trainee is actually in the situation playing out in real time in front of them.
“The mind doesn’t distinguish between the VR situation and an actual experience, so when a similar scenario arises in the course of the officer’s duties, their mind is more prepared to handle it in an effective way because it believes it’s already been in that situation many times before,” Klingenberg says.
And because no two situations officers face are ever exactly the same, MILO’s VR training program allows trainers to incorporate a nearly limitless number of variations of scenarios so officers never have to encounter the same virtual situation twice and are forced to vary their tactics accordingly.
Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of MILO’s VR training, however, is its ability to adapt to the trainee’s voice and movement responses and have the reactions of the virtual “subject” change based on the words and actions of the officer engaging them. By understanding what tactics help calm a subject and which ones are more likely to trigger them into escalated action, officers can learn how to handle real situations when they encounter suspects who might be under the influence, have mental health issues, or are experiencing other conditions that make them more volatile than typical subjects.
“Our goal as officers should be to verbally de-escalate the situation,” Klingenberg says. “This is an ideal way to develop those critical skills so that we can keep situations from intensifying out of control and have a more positive outcome for everyone.”
To evaluate the effectiveness of that goal for each trainee, MILO’s VR training also incorporates detailed analysis of the trainee’s performance in each training scenario.
“The on-board MILO VR action-action review (AAR) utilities give insight into trainee performance and knowledge gaps and allow for rapid re-training to meet and maintain agency standards,” McCue says.
As complete as MILO’s VR training program is, Klingenberg says they are continuing to advance the training by adding more scenarios, more capabilities, and more life-like graphics to make it even more effective for officer training.
“It’s hard to think about all of the things VR can do for you,” he says. “It’s more of a question of what it can’t do. The possibilities are really limitless.”
And so are the benefits of this training for law enforcement departments, their officers, and the communities they serve. (faac.com)
