A New Breakthrough In Law Enforcement Training Technology
I am a thirty-six-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Among other things, during my career, I was a field training officer in South Central Los Angeles and a firearms instructor for four years. For the last fifteen years, I have been an instructor in the Tactics and Survival Training Unit, or TAS. During that time, I have seen numerous pivotal changes and advancements in how we train our personnel. Changes that have helped make our law enforcement personnel more tactically sound and have made the job more survivable.
Law Enforcement Training Methods of the Past
In the 80s, we used methods from the book The Tactical Edge, Surviving High-Risk Patrol by Charles Remsberg. A book that many considered the bible of cutting-edge law enforcement training methods of that time.
In the '90s, we used the Miles Gear (Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System) we procured from the military. This was cutting-edge technology; okay for its time, but it was a crude training tool to visually let you know that you had been hit with gunfire.
In the 2000s, we utilized Simunitions. The 8mm marking rounds are fired from real firearms modified to only shoot the smaller munition. This change in training practice was a giant step forward in replicating real-world events by adding actual incoming rounds and a level of physical consequence.
Current Training Methods of Today
Our Tactics and Survival Training Unit (TAS) developed training and influenced policies for best practices concerning "Active Shooter" or "Active Attack" events. We studied and borrowed small team tactics from the military and included fire department personnel to practice concepts of "Unified Command," all of which helped move training forward to replicate better what happens in actual events.
Concurrently, the Force Science Training Center brought forward studies on reaction times and human performance under stress, among other things. Many of our instructors, myself included, became Force Science Instructors. We were able to speak to reaction times, aspects of human performance under stress, and memory impairment due to a stressful event.
However, there was still something missing in the training evolution. Even though we could replicate some tactical stress, to a degree, there were still shortcomings when replicating injuries that could occur during a tactical event. We still relied on acting, saying, "You've been shot in your left or right arm. You can't use that hand. Just pretend you are injured."
In 2021, I was introduced to a brand new realty-based training system called A.U.FIRE, short for Accuracy Under Fire, developed by inventor and retired Los Angeles Police Officer Tim Pearce.The concept came to him after Tim's wife, Kristina Ripatti, an LAPD officer who was shot and paralyzed on the job by a robbery suspect.
Post-injury, Tim was helping Kristina with her physical therapy using (E-Stim) Electrical Muscle Stimulation on her legs to involuntarily contract her leg muscles in order to fight off muscle atrophy. During this physical therapy, Tim imagined using the (E-Stim) via remote control to simulate injuries on law enforcement personnel during Force on Force training scenarios.
Tim wanted to simulate life-threatening injuries safely. Thus, allowing law enforcement personnel to practice survival tactics under real duress in simulated worse-case shooting scenarios. As a result, Tim spent the last 10 years innovating and developing this concept and successfully brought it to the commercial market in 2021.Officers Can And At Times, Must Shoot First no two single law enforcement interactions are alike and for as many as you can come up with where it is wrong for an officer to shoot first, we can find one where they must. It is intellectually dishonest to apply a one size fits all approach to law enforcement. The incontrovertible truth is that when faced with great peril, law enforcement officers will not rise to the occasion in those moments. Rather, they will fall to the highest level of their training and preparation. Department leaders across this nation have the responsibility to push the ceiling of that training and preparation ever higher.
We cannot handcuff our communities by allowing this misguided notion that officers can’t shoot first to prevail. We must be accountable for the profession we have chosen and the decisions we make in uniform, but we can’t let officers answer the next call with this misguided belief driving their decisions. We must prepare them for what they will face and that includes the possibility that they will be wounded in action and still very much in a fight.
That’s why the AUFIRE system was created. Never before have we been able to simulate that scenario with such precision. Look, if I could remedy this national conversation to ensure that bad shoots never take place and every officer goes home at the end of their shift, I’d gladly give my life doing so. I can’t solve every problem facing our communities, but I can help prepare officers for the day they and their families dread most. I can help keep officers in the fight in an era where, unfortunately, good officers are going to hesitate because of this national conversation. Godspeed to our officers. Godspeed to our communities in pursuit of peace and justice. Godspeed to the future of law enforcement that we all deserve.
Review of Accuracy Under Fire
In my opinion, the A.U.FIRE system is the next giant step forward for reality-based training, a real breakthrough, and "a game changer" for recreating the stress of real-world shooting events.
With the A.U.FIRE system, trainers can now, via remote control, instantly and safely take away the use of a limb in a training scenario. Therefore, they simulate an injury by safely causing intense muscle contractions, effectively immobilizing the student's arm as if it had been wounded.
With this new stimulation, the trainer can successfully get into the student's head during a scenario and interrupt their "OODA LOOP" [(Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) via John Boyd)]. Students can practice reacting and working through the perceived injury in a simulated life or death situation under extreme stress, which translates to better performance in a real-world event.
How does the Accuracy Under Fire system work?
The system currently utilizes stretchy neoprene electrically conductive sleeves worn by the student. The conductive fabrics have “E-Stim” built into both the inner and outer forearm and the bicep area, —future iterations will also incorporate the abdomen and legs. The sleeves are attached to a small receiving unit that is worn on the student's back. When activated, the instructor has a remote-sending unit that can target and remove the student's use of a particular limb, simulating an injury from a gunshot or stab wound.
The sensation is not necessarily painful but uncomfortable and immediately interferes with the recipient's OODA Loop. The student immediately feels their limb lock into a cramp-like state, making the limb no longer usable. Their brain immediately shifts to, "WTF! I can't use this limb!" However, they are still under attack.
The student must quickly figure out a different plan of action to carry on the fight and survive! The more this training is utilized, the faster the student can transition from, "Oh, I've been shot," to practical problem-solving. The student learns to drastically shorten the mental and physical reaction time to deal with the ongoing threat. They also learn that if the injury is not fatal, they can in fact, survive, fight back effectively, and stop the threat. This allows for more effective survivability in the real world.
This A.U.FIRE technology is versatile too. You can combine it with Simunitions in Force-on-Force training, allowing training to have projectiles with more lasting and much more realistic consequence in the scenarios, or bring it inside and use it directly with any visual simulator system. Much like our VIRTRA 300, (VR) or Virtual Reality, or (AR) Augmented Reality simulators.
Combine A.U.FIRE with these training platforms, and you have, by far, the closest thing to a real-world shooting event today, but with no injuries. This is absolutely groundbreaking!
Innovation at its finest.
For the first time, we can essentially broaden the physical effect in training to replicate a gunshot wound, a stabbing injury, or a blunt force trauma without an actual injury to the student. We, as trainers, no longer need to say things like, "just act like you have been shot, and you can't use a particular limb."
We can now take away the use of a limb remotely, letting the trainee practice their worst-case scenario. In turn, this helps them shorten their reaction times, which will build their confidence in survival. This confidence will allow trainees to stay calm, make better decisions under stress, and have more headspace to see de-escalation opportunities before situations get terminal. This new A.U.FIRE technology is a breakthrough and is as close to the real thing as it gets.