Training at Criminal Justice Academy looks to combat rise in officer-involved shootings
Since the start of 2019, there have been 47 officer-involved shootings in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —With officer-involved shootings on the rise across the state, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy is equipping students with the skills to de-escalate situations involving active shooters.
According to the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), there have been 47 officer-involved shootings in South Carolina since the start of 2019. So far in 2020, there have been two: one that resulted in the death of a public safety officer in Florence on January 5 and another in Newberry County on Wednesday.
“In these violent times, people are just responding with so much anger and force and such that police have to really be on guard, be vigilant, and they have to be prepared for those types of situations,” said Chief Jackie Swindler, the Director of the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy.
To show students what they can encounter in the field, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy has officers depict how to respond during active shooter situations.
“It has to be critical enough for them to realize and understand that there’s no pause, there’s no hesitation. You have to get in, you have to stop the killing, you have to stop the shooting,” said George Norton, an Instructor at the Criminal Justice Academy.
Students have the chance to put their skills to test by stepping in the Fire Arm Training Simulator (F.A.T.S), which is a video simulator made by Meggitt Training Systems.
An instructor could change the outcome of the video based on if students respond with calm de-escalation or, if necessary, with force.
Chief Swindler says this type of training is necessary to give officers power if they have an encounter with an active shooter.
“We try to put them in as many situations as we can, so they say ‘I know how to do this’, I will be successful and hopefully prepare that officer to not only have a winnable outcome but one where they are not harmed and then hopefully they don’t have to harm the citizen they encounter,” Chief Swindler said.
The basic training program last twelve weeks, but students get to go through the simulators towards the end of their training.
