COPPERAS COVE, TX — Participant’s in the Copperas Cove Citizens Police Academy tested their abilities in an active shooter training Saturday.
“It was more difficult than I was expecting it to be,” said Marcie Lowery.
In teams of two, they entered into a simulator designed to prepare officers to protect the community on the job.
“I still have adrenaline going,” said Erika Poppel.
Participants must assess scenarios in fractions of a second.
“It’s not a scripted scenario and so the way that you act with the simulator is the results that you’ll get. It’s as close as you get to a real life scenario,” said Sgt. Kevin Miller, with the Copperas Cove police.
Under pressure, the citizens police academy students must decide whether to pull the trigger, and if they do, hit their mark to stop an active shooter in their tracks.
“When we go out on a call, we do not know what we're walking into. And things change quickly. As emotions get involved things escalate,” said Miller.
The 12-week academy allows civilians to gain perspective about the realistic challenges that officers face.
