JEFFERSON, Ohio — Officials said last week, Matthew Zeigler attacked Ravenna police officers as they tried to stop him from vandalizing a police cruiser. Surveillance and body cam video shows Zeigler charging at an officer and trying to hit him in the face as a second officer deploys his taser. The taser didn't do anything to Zeigler. That's when more officers ran in to help, eventually arresting him. He's now charged with attempted aggravated murder.
This is another example of the high-stress situations many officers deal with on a regular basis, but now, a local sheriff's department is using state-of-the-art technology to better train deputies for these incidents.
Virtual reality is a new tool Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Deputy, Josh Helfer, wishes he had when he started his law enforcement career 18 years ago.
“It’s awesome because I can experience real-life scenarios in a safe environment and practice how I'd react,” said Helfer.
This 180-degree screen can project 300 different immersive scenarios that deputies may encounter on a shift. Detective, Evan Wolff, said it forces deputies to train in high-anxiety environments, which helps create preparedness in the field.
“This helps to get younger officers, even older officers, but ideally younger officers in a position to get stress in an area that’s controlled in an area that’s signet and no one will get hurt,” Wolff added.
The Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department purchased the simulator with a $250,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Justice’s De-escalation Training Program. Scenarios differ from active shooters in movie theaters, offices, or schools, to mental health calls or even just target practice.
In this room, mistakes are encouraged. In one simulation, Deputy Helfer didn’t see a secondary shooter while focusing on another and got hit. Though this wasn’t real life, reality still strikes.
“It hits home. I may not have made it home that day,” said Helfer. “The reality of me getting hit by a bullet, I have kids, I want to go home to my wife as well. It’s very heavy.”
That’s the overall point of the training, to teach trainees that decision-making under stress is a matter of life or death, whether that be for a deputy, victim, or suspect.
“It trains you to stay with the threat too until you are 100% certain there is no longer a threat,” said Wolff.
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