Ritzville Police train virtually and in person

RITZVILLE - At last Tuesday's City Council meeting, Police Chief Dave McCormick outlined several recent law-enforcement training opportunities.

On March 31, a firearms training simulator operated by Clear Risk Solutions was in town, he said. The risk-management company based in Ephrata uses sophisticated software and hardware to enable officers to engage in virtual scenarios.

Using a simulator, each participant must rely on past training and personal judgment to navigate tense situations, he said. They may use prop weapons such as a handgun, Taser or rifle.

Officers receive little information about what they are about to encounter, he said.

"In the old days, the training was called 'shoot/don't shoot,'" according to McCormick.

These days, an instructor uses a computer to interact with officers who respond to virtual situations, he said. Scenarios might include the use of verbal de-escalation, "the duty to intervene," or other situations based on current state guidelines.

"We all learned, and we all made mistakes," McCormick said.

At no cost to the department, local police will take this training on an annual schedule through an insurance carrier.

McCormick also hopes to schedule training for ambulance, police, and fire department crews using a driving simulator.

Today, April 12, McCormick and others will attend a demonstration in Othello, sponsored by a company that sells "less-the-lethal" devices, he said.

Such devices include "bean-bag rounds," which are synthetic-cloth bags filled with lead pellets deployed from a shotgun. The rounds travel with less velocity than a shotgun shell and have a range of about 80 feet.

Another less-than-lethal device is a "pepper ball," a small plastic container filled with a pepper spray chemical, he said. The size of a paintball round, these balls are shot from modified paintball or riot guns and have a range of about 160 feet.

Law enforcement departments from Grant and Adams counties have been invited to the demonstration.

"We're going to take a long hard look to see if it's possible to implement the devices at a feasible cost," McCormick said. "With everything going on in the world today, and especially in the state of Washington, it behooves us to look into these options."

Councilwoman Marsha Smith asked for clarification about less-than-lethal devices.

"It's like shooting someone with a beanbag instead of a rifle or handgun," the chief said. "Before using lethal rounds, we might use this method as a last resort."

Councilwoman Dede Boyer asked, "Would you use a less-than-lethal device instead of a Taser because of the distances involved?"

"That could be a factor," McCormick said. "Our Tasers have 21-foot probes. If a person was barricaded and maybe 30 or 40 yards away from an officer, one of these weapons might provide a safer and more effective option.

"Once a standard round leaves the barrel of a rifle or handgun, it's not coming back."

McCormick said less-than-lethal rounds can be very painful, but don't usually lead to fatalities.

"You would normally aim the projectile at a person's torso," he said. "The goal would be to knock the person down and cause enough pain to force him or her to drop a weapon."

He also noted that local officers have received Fentanyl training sponsored by the National Guard.

Several of officers have deployed Naloxone (sold under the brand name Narcan), a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.

He said those efforts have saved lives.