ISU de-escalation simulator offers training to law enforcement, students
Kyle Burgason and David Peters, two Iowa State University professors of criminal justice and sociology, respectively, used grant funding to bring the VirTra-100 judgmental criminal justice simulator to campus last fall. The ISU Police Department is using the simulator to train in defusing tense situations and responding to behavioral health issues. “Mental health and de-escalation are huge now in law enforcement. VirTra-100 has specific curriculum to tackle that, along with an extensive library of other realistic scenarios for experiential learning on verbal commands, use of force, and its social intersections,” Burgason said. Burgason is working toward incorporating the simulator into the curriculum for upper-level criminal justice students. In three to five years the goal is to have a larger space to house the simulator and offer training to rural police departments, most likely through a symposium.