Implementing a Virtual Reality Based De-escalation Scenario Training Program for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) is the primary law enforcement agency for four villages and eight townships that total approximately 142 square miles and 138,500 residents in Hamilton County, OH (plus ancillary services to the entire county). HCSO plans to deliver de-escalation training, based on the Police Executive Research Forum’s Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics, curriculum across its patrol division in order to improve outcomes during police-citizen encounters. Further, HCSO seeks to amplify the training by adding an immersive virtual reality (VR) component to enhance its scenario-based training aspects and sustain retention of training material and improved outcomes. In order to assess the VR training component’s efficacy and advance evidence-based policing, HCSO has partnered with the University of Cincinnati to rigorously evaluate the VR supplement.