New Firearm Simulator Trains El Paso Police Recruits on High Intensity Situations

EL PASO, Texas -- The El Paso police department is giving its recruits a new way to train for high intensity situations with a new 180-degree simulator.

The simulator consists of three large screens and projectors with dry-shot guns that allow recruits to react to real life situations they may encounter when they enter the field.

Instructors want to see how recruits physically move through the situation and make sure they are making the right decisions to the threats they have in front of them.

"Firearm simulators are fantastic. A lot of police and sheriff department academies have those now. They just allow officers to encounter a variety of situations, hundreds of situations in a very short amount of time. They get to interact with the video and use force when appropriate, and then in a safe environment be critiqued and trained on those actions," James Balthazar, senior special agent agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives explained.