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SALT LAKE CITY — Bursts of gunfire regularly erupt from Parley's Canyon at the sheriff's shooting range. Police have trained there for years, but for the past 11 months, they've been able to elevate their training on an indoor, state-of-the-art simulator.
"It raises my heart rate. It amps the stress up a little bit," said Officer Brad Smith, a firearms instructor with the Unified Police Department.
Smith went through several scenarios in the 300 degree VirTra simulator. Unlike single-screen simulators he has trained on in the past, Smith said this wrap-around simulator forces the trainee to assess the threat and make a judgment about what amount of force is necessary. The trainee must assess not only what is right in front of him, but also who may attack from any side.
"On this one, the scenario surrounds you," he said. "You have to keep your head moving. You have to turn around and look to see what could be coming up behind you."
Smith has worked in law enforcement 24 years and said this simulator is a game-changer for police training when it comes to use of deadly force. With police training in the spotlight in Utah, and across the country, Smith believes this advanced training is more valuable than ever.
For new officers, Smith is confident this kind of training will have a lasting impact on the way they do their job on the streets. In turn, that training saves lives in the community.
"I believe it does," he said. "It helps officers make the correct decision."
The intensity and reality of the scenarios has a physiological effect on the trainee.
It raises my heart rate. It amps the stress up a little bit.
–Brad Smith, UPD Firearms Instructor
"I've seen officers — brand-new officers — step in here and go through some of the same scenarios and walk out in a sweat."
The scenarios are intricate and variable. If you made good decisions, the threat de-escalates. If you make bad decisions, the threat intensifies.
I encountered a man in a domestic dispute with his wife or girlfriend. He had a gun pointed at her head, and he was shouting at me as I entered the house. I tried to talk him away from the woman and insisted that he drop the gun. In the end, he killed the woman, and me too. I made bad decisions that escalated the danger.
There was even a baby in the room I never saw — I was too focused on the gun and the shouting.
"You don't hear the baby if you're not open to the movement, if you are not open to watching the whole scenario," said Range Master Nick Roberts. "You don't have training in that."
But law enforcement officers in Salt Lake County are getting that training. Any officer in the county can train there. UPD makes sure each of its officers gets one day of training in the simulator, along with three days of live fire training on other ranges.
A year ago, the district attorney's Office used $500,000 in asset forfeiture money, along with $250,000 from the county's general fund, to buy the simulator.
