Virtual Reality Simulator Prepares Iowa's Future Police Officers

Hawkeye Community College recently announced their latest Advanced Learning Technology in their portfolio of tools and resources that aid in the development of Iowa's future workforce.

Hawkeye provides students with the latest techniques and learning opportunities with virtual, simulation, and advanced technology. These technologies allow students to receive more hands-on training while reducing materials and waste costs to Hawkeye. Students learn in safe, risk-free environments before testing their skills with real equipment and vehicles.

Learn more about how Hawkeye Law Enforcement Academy utilizes the Apex Officer virtual reality training simulator in our featured case study.

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Virtual Reality Training Simulator for Iowa Law Enforcement Agencies

Through the Apex Officer training platform, officers are fully immersed in a virtual reality situation with headgear, a backpack, and other accessories. As soon as officers and/or Iowa police cadets suit up they forget they are in a training room and instead are virtually placed inside the crisis situation to which they are responding. Another Iowa police officer creates the scenarios, with characters, and, is able to change the narrative at any moment.The variety of scenarios is endless ranging from traffic stops to domestic calls to active shooter situations.

In a recent article written by Rob Hillesland for the Globe Gazette, titled Forest City police prepare for real-life calls in virtual simulation training, virtual reality training simulations quickly raised each officer’s awareness of potential real-life, on-the-job encounters in the downstairs level of the Forest City Police Department.

The latest generation of situational and firearms training for officers was facilitated by Ben Scholl, who is law enforcement coordinator at Hawkeye Community College in Cedar Falls. Scholl led each participating officer through various digital “matrix” scenarios.

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“It’s going to be really interesting to see how this works,” said Forest City Police Chief Tom Montgomery, ahead of the training. “It’s a brand new system for very important training.”

Apex Officer in use by Iowa Law Enforcement Academies

Apex Officer's virtual reality simulator is a new and innovative way of giving officers and cadets from all over Iowa hands-on training in de-escalation situations. In the past, officers and cadets would have to go through the traditional classroom and lecture-based training at the academy. Now, with Apex Officer's virtual reality simulator designed and tailored to law enforcement training academies' specific training needs, officers and cadets can experience a real-world training scenario, virtually in their classroom.

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Iowa Criminal Justice Program Uses Apex Officer's VR Simulator

Criminal Justice students at Iowa Lakes Community College can now practice police officer-based scenarios using the newly acquired Apex Officer program, a realistic and immersive virtual reality (VR) law enforcement training simulator.

“We identified VR simulations as something that would benefit the Criminal Justice program about five years ago, but the technology wasn’t where we wanted it to be. Now, the technology has advanced considerably and we’re very excited to be able to offer the Apex Office program to our students. This technology will allow students to practice and hone their skills in a safe, virtual environment before they ever step into a real-life scenario,” explained Chris Gerstbrein, Criminal Justice Program Co-Coordinator and Professor.

Read the full release on Iowa Lakes Community College Criminal Justice website.

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Training Curriculum Tailored to Iowa Law Enforcement Academies

The Apex Officer content library is based on real-life incidents and is professionally produced with content that is carefully vetted by subject matter experts in the state of Iowa to rigorously test critical thinking skills, firearms skills under pressure, and psychological responses to the stresses of life-like situations.

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Iowa Law Enforcement Academy

Hawkeye is a Regional Law Enforcement Training Facility approved by the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Council.

To become a certified police officer, Iowa law requires the successful completion of training at an approved law enforcement training facility. Hawkeye Community College has been designed as a Regional Law Enforcement Training Facility by the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Council to provide certification training for officers who meet the enrollment requirements.

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History of Hawkeye

Since Hawkeye opened its doors in 1966, it has focused on meeting the needs of the community, providing quality, affordable training for learners at all stages of life. First opened as Hawkeye Institute of Technology, today Hawkeye Community College serves more than 25,000 individuals and awards almost 1,500 diplomas and degrees annually. Hawkeye has a community impact of $106 million and 1,400 jobs. Since 1966, the college has graduated more than 50,000 students, with 94 percent staying in Iowa.

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Conclusion

2022 is a big year for Apex Officer® and law enforcement training academies.  If you are interested in this simulator for your police department or law enforcement training academy, please set up your immersive product demonstration or speak to one of our procurement representatives today. We would be happy to set up a demonstration for you and answer any questions you may have.

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