Chapter 1 8 INTRODUCTION Training is an essential part of the career of a police officer. Starting in the police academy, cadets are taught the basic skills and knowledge they require for their policing career. Once graduated from the police academy, police officers continue to receive training to ensure safe conduct and adequate skills for the job (Kleygrewe et al., 2022; Koedijk, 2022; Koedijk et al., 2020). More so than other occupations, police officers encounter situations that are characterized by ambiguity, complexity, and stress (Waddington et al., 2012). To cope with these situations, police officers have to possess a broad range of skills. Next to physical skills such as running, weapon handling, shooting and self-defense, police officers need to possess psychological skills such as information processing, problem-solving, de-escalation, and decision-making (Birzer & Tannehill, 2001; Blumberg et al., 2019). To train physical and psychological skills in an integrated fashion simultaneously, police agencies utilize scenario-based training as a method that replicates on-duty incidents (Di Nota & Huhta, 2019; Andersen et al., 2016). Police instructors design realistic environments using appropriate equipment, props, role-players, and sounds that create a simulation of an on-duty situation. Scenario-based training allows police officers to practice their skills while also experiencing the influence of stress on their performance (Di Nota & Huhta, 2019). With a rise in the availability of training technologies, police agencies have now begun to utilize Virtual Reality (VR) as a means to conduct scenario-based training (Saunders et al., 2019). VR entails a binocular head-mounted display which presents the user with a simulated virtual scene (Scarfe & Glennerster, 2019). In addition to the head-mounted display, many VR systems provide full-body motion tracking to permit realistic full-body movements in the virtual environment (e.g., RE-liON VR blacksuit, REFENSE VR system). Enabling free, full-body motion, VR offers a training tool which allows police agencies to design and train a wide range of simulated scenarios that officers may encounter in the field. Compared to real-life scenariobased training, VR offers the flexibility of creating and designing training environments and scenarios independent of a physical training location, props, and protective training equipment. In virtual scenarios, police officers can safely train high-risk situations (e.g., fire, explosions, mass disturbances; see Murtinger et al., 2021) without having to handle live weapons or other equipment that could increase the risk of accidents or injury. Compared to real-life scenarios, VR allows for the inclusion of vulnerable populations in training (e.g., the elderly, children, people with disabilities; Kent & Hughes, 2022). Taken together, the integration and adjustment of various elements in VR — such as lighting and weather conditions, and responses of nonplayer characters — create dynamic training situations and virtually endless opportunities for scenario creation.
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