PORTSMOUTH, Va. — For roughly a year, some police officers in Portsmouth tested themselves in virtual reality as a way to practice decision-making.
With a virtual reality headset on, they are immersed in a 360-degree visual and auditory world that's based on a wide range of real-life situations.
It can be anything from a domestic dispute call to a mental crisis call.
Under a time limit, officers then have to make decisions on what to do next.
"Even though she's armed, I am far enough away, and I have the vehicle between me and her," a Portsmouth officer running through a virtual reality scenario explained. "So I'm choosing the de-escalation options."
After a scenario, they talk through any mistakes.
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"We want to make sure we simplify it for officers by putting them through training first and allowing them to develop responses in training where they can make mistakes there rather than doing it on the street," said Lt. Scott Blystone, training director for Portsmouth Police Department.
Thursday, officers showed News 3 how the virtual reality system worked. The first scene that played was from the perspective of someone in a mental crisis where viewers could see through the person's eyes and hear their internal thoughts. The scene ran a second time, but this time the perspective was from a responding officer making choices on how to react.
"By allowing us to put officers in those shoes of the people who are suffering from these crisis's they can see what it's like for these individuals and be a little more sympathetic in their responses," said Lt. Blystone.
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Lt. Blystone said it's been a big training impact for the cost. Each system runs roughly $3,000.
Because of the positive response to the training, Portsmouth police plan to soon use the technology in monthly training for all officers.
However, Lt. Blystone added, virtual reality is a tool but not a replacement for other training.
