Police Foundation of Colorado Springs (PFCS) is honored to support the Colorado Springs Police Department’s purchase of its newest major training asset available to local and regional law enforcement officers – a state-of-the-art training simulator housed at the Colorado Springs Police Department Academy. The new simulator places officers in high-stress, realistic scenarios that emphasize de-escalation techniques and provide representative experiences to prepare officers for real-life situations. Beginning in fall of 2019, Police Foundation of Colorado Springs committed to fundraising more than $147,000 to purchase an industry-leading training simulator to replace the department’s former 6-year old system in need of critical updates. Police Foundation Executive Director/President, Nicole Magic said, “we are incredibly thankful for the generosity of supporters who have come alongside us in support of this initiative. And I want to especially recognize the PFCS fundraising team and staff who, despite exceptional challenges in a year where fundraising and outreach were difficult, to say the least, still managed to raise an extraordinary amount, demonstrating the high level of commitment and community backing in support of this request from CSPD.”
Fundraising efforts included generous support from Anschutz Foundation, Union Pacific Foundation, NRA Foundation and El Pomar Foundation and concluded in early 2020 which enabled the department to purchase the system and roll it out in time to train the 2021 CSPD Police Academy Recruit Class. The department has plans to train the rest of the department’s sworn personnel through routine in service training August through September 2021. The full system combines the TI Training Lab UltraWorld and the TI Training Lab Ex to equip CSPD instructional facilitators with more than 800 simulated scenarios around which to design and facilitate training curriculum for the department including firearms training, rendering medical aid, arrest control and many other critical skills.
The system includes surveillance cameras to support feedback and training and can be recorded and projected for playback as an instructional tool for group debrief and discussion. Additionally, instructors have the ability to modify outcomes, escalating or deescalating situations as officers are in the midst of a simulation to ensure a well-rounded training experience. Officer Bryce Macomber, In Service Training Coordinator and Certified Master Instructor detailed the benefits this type of training provides the officers: “The virtual environment and mental role playing exposes officers to information and experiences that will enhance their decision-making capabilities and allows officers to experience the speed of action and visual and auditory senses that may be expected in escalated encounters. It refines their skills and allows the opportunity for feedback to learn from situations in a lower risk environment.” In addition to the new training simulator serving as a valuable training tool, it is also incredibly cost effective and provides a tremendous cost savings for the Colorado Springs Community. Lieutenant Korey Hutchison, CSPD Police Academy Training Coordinator shared that “previously, to facilitate this caliber of training, CSPD had to secure a third party venue (often an empty building, parking lot, or other facility) provide security, secure role players and construct an environment where a realistic experience could be fabricated. With the extensive library of scenarios and the adaptable modular system available to us with the new TI simulator, we exponentially save time and resources as well as provide more exemplary training opportunities for our officers.” Not only will the Colorado Springs Police Department benefit from this state-of-the-art training simulation system, but the department plans to share the resource with the greater regional community including allowing training access to departments in the Central Mountain Training Region which includes more than 42 agencies in the seven county area of Chaffee, Custer, El Paso, Fremont, Park, Pueblo, and Teller counties. These agencies have a combined total of 3,000+ certified law enforcement officers serving a population of nearly 760,000 people (cmtrtraining.org). “We are truly honored to contribute and support the Colorado Springs Police Department with this resource,” said Greg Welch, Chairman of Police Foundation of Colorado Springs. “Not only will the training simulator provide opportunity for the highest quality training that will, in turn, potentially save lives, but also the greater impact this type of training asset will have regionally by providing access and partnership for smaller departments goes to the core mission of the Police Foundation of promoting excellence in the department and improving public safety.” Since its creation in 2009, Police Foundation of Colorado Springs, a non-profit organization, has demonstrated dedication to aid the Colorado Springs Police Department by promoting excellence within the department and through the donation of almost $1,000,000 in funds and resources. By providing resources not otherwise readily available from the city budget and other traditional sources, Police Foundation of Colorado Springs exhibits a steadfast commitment to improving public safety for the city of Colorado Springs. Among the foundation’s many contributions to the police department in recent years was the donation of more than $210,000 to buy tactical vest kits for every CSPD officer, donation of more than 1,500 life-saving medical trauma kits to each officer, and hosting the annual Medal of Valor Luncheon to honor officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. To learn more about the Foundation and its mission and purpose, or to make a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation, visit www.policefoundationofcoloradosprings.org. Comments are closed.
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