The Challenge
Insurance costs for local police agencies have sky rocketed during the past few years, attributable largely to publicity about fatal shootings and questionable uses of lethal force. All police agencies are looking for ways to reduce these costs.
The Orange County Sheriff’'s Department (OCSD), employs more than 1800 commissioned Deputy Sheriffs and Sheriff’'s Special Officers. It is the 5th largest sheriff’'s agency in the United States. Under California law, each officer must undergo at least 24 hours of police training every two years. The OCSD has also been charged with training more than 3,600 officers from other law enforcement agencies in the Southern California region during the next two years.
The challenge faced by OCSD was to both train large numbers of officers and do so in a way that would reduce the risk of the actions that have led to higher insurance rates.
The Solution
OCSD had been using a training system with static targets since 1987. Even with static targets, its Tactical Training Center (formerly known as “Laser Village”) has been considered one of the best training centers in the country.
In 1998, OCSD upgraded its training by purchasing an L1000 PRISim system from Advanced Interactive Systems, Inc. Thousands of officers have been trained on the equipment. “This system is heads above anything I’'ve ever seen. The realism is amazing. With our old system, we stood and fired at a screen. AIS’'s video-simulated system and shootback cannon make the situation so real, you think it’'s actually happening real-time,” says Bob Naranjo, Deputy Sheriff and Perishable Skills Instructor with OCSD. “At our Tactical Training Center, we now have state-of-the-art training simulators for our officers. AIS training is not only cost-effective, but it’'s the best training I’'ve ever seen.”
The Result
“Since we started training with these AIS simulators, our officers are more confident in the field, and have more experience using their equipment under life threatening circumstances,” says Naranjo. He added, “I’'d recommend anyone looking at training systems to visit a department like ours, to experience AIS’'s system and check it out for themselves. They’'ll see the value first-hand - it makes you more effective with your equipment and in quick decision-making skills.”