GREEN BAY (WBAY) -
Nearly 25 years after opening the country's first virtual range, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College's police academy remains on the cutting edge of virtual simulation.
Within one room you can present many different situations and scenes very quickly.
Of all the training, close quarters combat is by far the most intense.
It does happen, and we have to stay on top of our game.
Tactical instructor Ian Nishimoto shows us some examples of what officers go through.
In this simulated scenario, he's with another officer in a school, pursuing an active shooter.
After his partner is wounded, Nishimoto engages the shooter and takes him down.
"It definitely raises the stress levels, and that's exactly where what we want them to be at that point, so they come out feeling a lot more competent but also confident in using their weapon and using it accurately and taking care of that threat," says Nishimoto. "About 90 percent are within just a few feet of law enforcement, deadly force encounters."
Randy Revling says one of the many advantages of the simulator is that it provides immediate feedback.
"They have the opportunity to make a plan for next time," Revling says. "'How do I see myself doing this thing next time?' And they make a plan and work with their coaches and most importantly work with each other, and then go right back in for another simulation."
Revling estimates more than 2,000 police officers from around the area practice this close combat virtual simulation every year.
A recent analysis by the FBI found 75-percent of shootings involving agents also involved gunmen who were within three yards.
