By Sadef Ali Kully
The NYPD has been making strides to reconnect with communities by giving the public a chance to see the officer training experience at the police academy.
The training program, Fire Arms Tactical Simulator, known as F.A.T.S, was held Feb. 23 at the Greater Springfield Community Church on 129th Avenue where more than 35 residents gathered to see and participate in the demonstration.
“This is a training modality with our recruits,” said Inspector Raymond Caroli, part of the NYPD training and firearms section. “This video-based training shows their sense of judgment in stressful situations.”
Fire Arms Tactical Simulator, a training program for the NYPD, uses video simulation to create real-life scenarios for police officers. It includes characters that respond in real time to a command from the officer. Scenarios can turn violent or a situation can be handled peacefully depending on the how the training officer handles the conflict.
“The idea is that there are real consequences to your actions. This is about judgment calls under stress, specific to the use the force,” said Caroli. “It is a very critical training. We raise the stress level to see their response and then critique them. The idea that the NYPD is on a shooting rampage is just not true.”
There are three major forms of training; lecture-based training, video-based training, and actual scenario training, where role-playing instructors play criminals and officers armed with paintball guns said Caroli.
The demonstration required participants to wear a gun belt with a modified .99mm gun and a baton. The participants, playing officers, are put into situations where they must deal with a drunkard holding a brick or a large man who jumped the turnstile or someone with a weapon. The demonstration was entertaining for most participants, but the reality of police relations in their community was not past them.
“I basically think this is to cover their backs with all the chaos that’s going on,” said Dr. Reba Perry, who owns a child day-care center in Springfield Gardens. “I have seen them stop and frisk young men in front of my day-care center. But I am not angry like most people. I get it. For instance, I don’t think that cop who shot the kid in the staircase should be charged. I know that neighborhood and it is a bad neighborhood, especially with a stairwell with no lighting. I don’t think the cop did it purposely. I don’t think he should be charged.”
Perry was the first participant in the demonstration where she played an officer, who has to deal with a large size, aggressive male civilian who did not pay his metro fare.
After the demonstration, Perry said, “He was a big guy, I thought he was going to try something.”
Perry’s colleague, Denise Rodriguez, came to the event for different reasons.
“I have a 25-year-old year old son and I worry every time he walks out that door, because of the stereotype,” said Rodriguez, whose son is a college student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. “He looks like any other other kid from this neighborhood and it is important to know what is going on in our community.”
In January, the NYPD announced it would be re-evaluating its training program and putting pilot programs into select precincts to address the rift in community relations since the death of Eric Garner from a chokehold by a NYPD officer in Staten Island, and the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley, who was shot in a stairwell in Brooklyn in November.
Reach Reporter Sadef Ali Kully by e-mail at skull
