BAY VILLAGE, Ohio — Each and every day police officers find themselves in potentially life-threatening situations where they have to make split-second decisions on whether to use force.
Bay Village Police Department Detective Ed Chapman has worked in law enforcement for 12 years.
He’s never had to use deadly force while on the job.
“Thank God I’ve never been involved in a shooting. I hope to never be involved in one. But I’m confident that if I had to, I would do what I needed to do, just like you see in this situation — our job was to protect people the best that we can,” said Chapman.
He and his fellow Bay Village police officers prepare for the worst by using a “Ti Machine Use of Force Simulator” at least four times a year.
Sgt. Elliot Silva brings 21 years of police experience in Bay Village.
Currently, he’s in charge of the firearms program.
“Sometimes you don’t have but a split-second to make a decision,” said Silva.
The types of weapons used in this training are the same as the ones these officers carry with them on the job: a Glock 22 .40 caliber handgun and a taser, but these ones are powered by compressed air.
“We don’t allow any live weapons up here because we don’t want to have an accidental discharge into the screen,” said Silva.
Another tool certain night-time scenarios require is an infa-red flashlight.
The goal of this simulation is to put officer’s in realistic, stressful situations to practice de-escalation and reduce their reaction time to any threat.
“We don’t want to be involved in these shootings. We don’t want other people to get hurt. So if we can talk to somebody, I learned long and long ago from an old police friend of mine it’s a lot easier to talk to somebody into handcuffs than it is to fight them in,” said Detective Chapman.
Six Ohio police departments share this system that has new scenarios uploaded regularly.
During training, there’s an instant replay feature and review for accuracy.
Silva says it was purchased in 2015 for about $65,000 by the Westshore Enforcement Bureau which is made up of the police departments in Bay Village, Fairview Park, Lakewood, North Olmsted, Rocky River and Westlake.
Both Silva and Chapman say that with the recent increase in gun violence nationwide, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine pushing for stricter gun laws, on top of the fact that two Ohio police officers have been killed in the line of duty in a matter of months — all of that makes this kind of police training simulation that much more vital so that they can be well-equipped for anything.
“I think it’s eye-opening and it’s enlightening for some people to see how scary things can be sometimes,” said Chapman.
