The Hamilton Police Service is looking to introduce a virtual reality service for the mental health crisis training program.
With this new initiative, the city’s police force looks to provide their officers with scenario-based learning in mental health crisis intervention. By using VR, the training will simulate true-to-life environments that reflect settings such as parks, private homes, and emergency rooms. The program’s trainees can then learn how to respond to certain scenarios involving mental health crises.
The program’s head, Dr. Jennifer Lavoie, has been working alongside Toronto Metropolitan University researcher Dr. Natalie Alvarez to develop the training program. The duo has worked with people in the community who have experienced mental health illnesses and advocates for solutions that will drive better crisis prevention. The program has also reached out to various clinicians, nurses, forensic psychologists, and indigenous communities to come up with the best program possible.
“The scenarios depict highly authentic characters portraying a range of mental health crisis situations,” explains Wilfrid Laurier professor, Dr. Jennifer Lavoie. “Officers actively take part in scenario-based learning where they can repeatedly practice safe alternatives to the use of force in high-intensity crisis simulations. The VR aspect of the training was developed by Toronto-based company Lumeto. They use a platform called InvolveXR, which replicates live experiences and puts in adaptive characters. This approach will allow officers to practice de-escalation skills in a fully interactive scenario.
“This program is the next evolution in crisis intervention training,” says Staff Sergeant Dave Mckenzie. “Using Virtual Reality, our officers can participate in realistic situations and live scenarios like they are happening in real-time. This allows officers to continue learning how to de-escalate more efficiently and compassionately.”
Last year alone, Hamilton Police had to respond to 5,718 mental health crisis calls. The Mental Health Crisis Training Program hopes to further equip police officers to respond to these events with more compassion and effectiveness. By using virtual reality, the program will be able to reduce live training costs and deploy more training programs in various locations.