LOWELL, Mass. — Starting next Monday, more of Lowell’s police force, which consists of more than 230 officers, will begin training at a new, virtual reality training machine that brings real, dangerous policing scenarios to life.
Deputy superintendent Mark Leblanc told Boston 25 on Thursday that, through a state grant, their previous system was upgraded to the VirTra-300 4K Virtual Reality Simulator.
The simulator has hundreds of scenarios in its system and allows the department to take panoramic shots in the field and develop situations of their own to train in-house.
300-degree screens and sounds are magnified during the training sessions, where officers are armed with training gear.
Officers showed Boston 25 crews a simple wellness check first, which didn’t require them to discharge their weapons.
“It’s the realism of not only being surrounded by the sound, but it’s also the realism of the scenario,” said Leblanc. “We can play back the officer so he can see, or she can see, how they responded.”
In September, police in the city were met with a very real threat at UMass Lowell when a suspect with a long gun was reported on campus.
The suspect was later identified as a 12-year-old with an airsoft rifle.
But Leblanc said they are able to recreate and critique their response using the training system.
He said it gives them “The ability for us to take an incident like that, see how it played out, and then create a scenario in-house that the officers can then practice on.”
Boston 25 news reporter Daniel Coates geared up to try the simulation in a more serious situation. The virtual incident depicted a police response to a school shooter at a local high school.
With an instructor in his ear, Coates was led through the active area and directed on how to neutralize suspects with rifles.
Scenarios, characters, and their actions in the system are dictated second-by-second by an officer outside the simulation.
The department plans to train officers regularly using the system downtown.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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