VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In a split second, Lieutenant James Gordon has to make a decision. The suspect in front of him is either about to lay down his weapon, or shoot.
Gordon knows whatever choice he makes, it will have a life-long impact in the real world. But in the virtual world, he can hit the pause button.
"Nothing about this is carbon copy, we can change the simulation however many times we need to," said Gordon.
Gordon is just one of the trainers in charge of VirTra, a virtual-reality law enforcement training system, and is a veteran of 20 years with Virginia Beach Police Department. He works directly with new recruits looking to join the force, and puts them through a 300-degree virtual reality training to see how they perform under pressure.
Recruits are taught de-escalation, escalation, and empathy skills as they face multiple different scenarios.
"These are really fluid situations, where an officer may first try to deescalate, but then may need to escalate it based on a threat," said Gordon. "We're watching to see what decision the officer will make, and how they react to the stress."
Simulations can include anything from an active shooter situation, to a domestic violence dispute, and even a child stealing a candy bar.
Officers are given full use of their gun belt and other crime-fighting tools including OC spray and a taser.
Gordon said if an officer is making the wrong choice, they want them to do it in the simulation, where other officers are watching and corrections can be made.
"We'll pause the whole simulation if we see something truly bad, but that rarely happens," said Gordon. "We'll also do a debrief after to really go through the choices they made and talk over what they could have done better."
All Virginia Beach police recruits are required to go through the training, but veterans on the force are always welcome to try it.
A spokesman with VBPD told 13News Now even those who did not go through this specific training have undergone other forms of de-escalation training.