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Avon Citizens Academy puts class to the test in fatal force scenarios

AVON, Ind. (WISH) — Police action shootings have been the center of a heated debate after several incidents across the country over the past two years. Now one local department is putting civilians into a simulator to see how they would handle the high-adrenaline situations as part of it’s citizens academy.

Avon Police Department Assistant Chief Brian Nugent said hindsight can often cause the community to question how an officer behaves during a confrontation. He hopes by throwing this year’s citizens academy class into a simulator, it will show how difficult that split-second decision can really be.

“It puts you in their shoes. You don’t know what’s around the corner,” Julie Loker said.

Loker is the first of the class to step into the simulator.

“They’ll be exposed to a variety of factors, aggressive behavior, passive behavior, they may be exposed to potential presence of a weapon,” Nugent said.

First practicing with small paint pellets and targets, participants are then armed with a glock retrofitted to interact with the training software. Loker said she felt the pressure in this close-to-real-life experience.

“It was fun, but…. I was nervous,” Loker said.

As the test proceeds, the person administering it can evolve the scenario depending on how the participant reacts. In the end, the participant has to decide whether to hold back or fire their weapon.

“It’s very eye-opening to them to determine how fast things take place and how little time they do have to make observations, make decisions,” Nugent said.

“I walked out of the room knowing that in two out of the three scenarios, I probably died,” Loker said. “I have so much respect for law enforcement now, knowing what they have to go through.”

It’s an upsetting thought for her, but a stark realization for police officers on duty every day.

“As law enforcement, we have to train for the possibilities, not the probabilities of what we may face on a daily basis,” Nugent said.

The Town of Avon is just 20-years-old. In that time, an Avon officer has fired a weapon three times. In one case a man was killed, in 2001. Nugent said that shooting was ruled reasonable. It has been 15 years since that incident, but Nugent said that can change any minute of any day, so training and having community outreach programs like the citizens academy are constantly a focus.

The Avon Police Department Citizens Academy is held annually starting in April. Sign-up for the course is typically in February. This year the class filled-up in less than an hour. Nugent suggests watching the department’s social media accounts for information.