The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is now using virtual reality training to help deputies practice different community engagement scenarios.
The virtual reality equipment they use is very immersive and easy to use.
Deputies will be able to run through scenarios from their own perspective, and the perspective of the person they are coming into contact with.
"Scenarios start off usually, you're seeing it from the eyes of the subject whether that be a mental health subject, a suicidal subject, what have you, and you gain the perspective. An interesting scenario we have is a hearing-impaired driver that gets pulled over and doesn't understand the officer," said Training Sergeant Brock Kyler.
During the scenarios, they will go through a series of choices, and they will be given feedback based on the decisions they make.
Pretty soon, all of the deputies with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office will have access to this training.
So far, deputies say this training is providing a number of benefits for the whole department.
"Resource wise it's a huge cost saver for us and time saver, so we can take these headsets to a multitude of places, instead of having to come up here to the training center, we can do this on shift, at briefings, in the field," said Deputy Brian Harris.
Instructors say new scenarios will be available to use every quarter, so they can continue using the virtual reality training.
