Phoenix PD among first police agencies to roll out new
virtual reality training to officers
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Axon (NASDAQ:
AXON), the global leader in connected public safety technologies,
today announced the availability of its Virtual Reality (VR)
Simulator Training, which provides immersive VR training that helps
officers develop critical thinking and de-escalation skills and
build community trust. Phoenix PD is one of the first agencies to
deploy this revolutionary training to better prepare officers for
real-life situations in the field.
Police training today can be costly, time consuming and require
dedicated training centers, props, and paid roleplay instructors.
As a result, officers may not have as much access to training as
they would like, and often times the training they do get is
focused on use-of-force rather than de-escalation skills. Effective
training must be realistic, accessible and easily deployable across
departments, independent of department size or resources. These
factors are critical in helping officers confront and make optimal
decisions during a real-life situation.
With Simulator Training, trainers and trainees no longer need to
be in the same location for training to occur. Simulator Training
can be easily deployed in any environment and allows officers to
train as often as they like from anywhere, even remotely. Simulator
Training aims to increase the frequency in which officers conduct
skills and de-escalation training through immersive, real-life
scenarios that feel real, both physically and mentally, and can be
easily completed in 10-20 minutes before or after a shift. The
platform can also be used to analyze an officer's current
performance and inform future training for that individual.
"Axon's VR Simulator Training is truly a new era in law
enforcement training," says Chris
Chin, Axon VP of Immersive Technologies. "It directly
supports Axon's mission to protect life by giving law enforcement
officers the ability to work through situations they see in their
communities daily via VR and help create better outcomes for
everyone."
The Axon VR Training platform is made up of three core
components including:
- Axon Academy
-
- Axon Academy houses a library of supplemental e-learning
content and training materials designed to strengthen the skills
learned in the Community Engagement and Simulator Training
scenarios. For trainers, after-action reports stored on Academy
provide performance and progress metrics, insight into an officer's
decisions, and new opportunities for coaching and program
development.
- Community Engagement Training
-
- Community Engagement Training focuses on developing skills,
empathy and communication for engaging with individuals in
scenarios involving mental health, trauma, peer intervention and
more. Through these experiences, trainees get to understand the
perspectives of both the officer and the civilian, and see how
different modes of communication can result in de-escalation, which
can influence calls for service.
- Simulator Training
-
- Firing Range – Basic: In this scenario, trainees learn
safe and effective deployment of weapons. Trainees learn to operate
TASER 7 energy weapons and replica training firearms in VR within
an indoor range environment, then practice their skills on
stationary targets from varying distances to improve accuracy,
speed, tactical knowledge and critical thinking skills.
- Firing Range – Intermediate: In this scenario, trainees
deploy the TASER 7 energy weapon from various distances on moving
subjects in an outdoor, nighttime setting. This fast-paced exercise
helps trainees utilize safety features, recognize proper spread and
probe placement on moving subjects, manage clothing disconnects,
and achieve higher effectiveness when deploying TASER
cartridges.
A recent study from the National League of Cities looked at a
three-month period in which over 85 officers at Phoenix PD's South
Mountain Precinct went through nine of Axon's Community Engagement
Modules in VR. The study found that 81.4% of participants said that
at least one of the VR training modules was effective in preparing
them to adapt their approach to a call. Additionally, 59% of
participants found that at least one of the modules had encouraged
them to see things from another perspective.
"With this new VR training, we've reduced the cost and time that
it takes to get our officers the training they need to perform at
their best," says Phoenix Mayor,
Kate Gallego. "I've experienced the
VR training, and it was amazing to see the same incident from
different perspectives. The training will help our officers gain
confidence and insight as they respond to our diverse
communities."
Combining the HTC VIVE Focus 3 VR headset and the VIVE Wrist
Tracker from industry leading partner, HTC VIVE, Axon VR provides
an all-in-one, portable platform that's simple to deploy and use,
with no extraneous hardware, time or space constraints. The VR
training provides connectivity for both in-person and remote
experiences, creating an on-demand platform that can be accessed
anytime.
To learn more about Simulator Training visit
https://www.axon.com/training/vr.
About Axon
Axon is a network of devices, apps and people that helps public
safety personnel become smarter and safer. With a mission of
protecting life, our technologies give customers the confidence,
focus and time they need to keep their communities safe. Our
products impact every aspect of a public safety officer's
day-to-day experience with the goal of helping everyone get home
safe.
We work hard for those who put themselves in harm's way for all
of us. To date, more than 266,000 lives and countless dollars have
been saved with the Axon Network of devices, apps and people. Learn
more at www.axon.com or by calling (800) 978-2737. Axon is a global
company with headquarters in Scottsdale,
Ariz. and global software engineering hub in Seattle, Wash., as well as additional offices
in Australia, Canada, Finland, Vietnam, the UK and the Netherlands.
Facebook is a trademark of Facebook, Inc.; HTC, HTC VIVE and
VIVE Focus are trademarks of HTC Corporation and Twitter is a
trademark of Twitter, Inc.. Axon, Axon Network, Axon VR, TASER,
TASER 7 and the Delta Logo are trademarks of Axon Enterprise, Inc.,
some of which are registered in the US and other countries. For
more information, visit www.axon.com/legal. All rights
reserved.
Follow Axon here:
- Axon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/axon
- Axon on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Axon.ProtectLife/
Note to Investors
Please visit http://investor.axon.com,
https://www.axon.com/press, www.twitter.com/axon_us and
https://www.facebook.com/Axon.ProtectLife/ where Axon discloses
information about the company, its financial information and its
business.
CONTACT:
Corinne Clark
Public Relations Manager
Press@axon.com
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