The Spokane lab recreates simulations of actual officer-involved shootings to help improve police responses.
Inside an old warehouse on Washington State University’s Spokane campus, police officer Nick Briggs is being fitted with an imaging device to monitor what’s happening inside his brain as he makes life and death decisions.
“What it does is measures the oxygen in the blood in your prefrontal cortex,” Dr. Lois James tells Briggs. “In layman’s terms, that gives us an idea of how hard you’re working at the various tasks.”
As he steps into the V simulator, Briggs is armed with an actual police issued handgun — a Glock — modified to shoot a laser instead of bullets.
James puts him through a series of high anxiety scenarios based on real life situations that play out on a huge virtual reality screen. Inside this simulator, Briggs will be tested as he decides whether to shoot or not to shoot in the face of danger — a decision he said he takes very seriously.
The Violence Confrontation Lab at WSU is the only one of its kind in the world that takes data from actual officer-involved shootings and recreates frighteningly realistic scenarios playing out on a huge virtual reality screen. The research is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.