11 minute read
Simulated Scenario Village
VILLAGE
IN FIRST RESPONDER TRAINING, THE SIMULATION OF REAL-LIFE EVENTS IS ESSENTIAL TO PROVIDING AN AUTHENTIC ON-THE-JOB EXPERIENCE. THE NEW SIMULATED SCENARIO VILLAGE AT TRI-C’S WESTERN CAMPUS IS ONE OF THE FEW PLACES IN OHIO THAT CAN PROVIDE IT.
STORY BY Erik Cassano PHOTOS BY Jason Miller
VILLAGE IT TAKES A
You are about to come along with the Parma Police SWAT team to serve an arrest warrant at a residence. The target is a two-story house with an attached garage, situated at the end of a cul-de-sac — a typical suburban home.
A large Humvee drives up first. The armored monster, once used by the U.S. military in the Middle East, is a mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicle. On its tail is a long black van. The MRAP takes a position on the right side of the cul-de-sac. The van — windowless save for the windshield and front driver and passenger windows — takes a position on the left. The house is now boxed in.
After a tense pause, a message thunders over the loudspeaker on the MRAP: “Residents, this is Parma Police! Come out of the front door with your hands up! Do not have any weapons or anything on your hands!”
The side door of the van slides open, and nearly a dozen Parma SWAT team members climb out in full gear — helmets, weapons and shields. They exit on the side of the van opposite the house, using the van’s steel body as a shield in the event of a hostile response. As the shield-holding officers lead, the group creates a small phalanx, edging toward the door. Several SWAT members stay behind, taking up position behind the van and MRAP. They will provide cover fire if needed.
The driver of the MRAP repeats his command over the loudspeaker: “Residents, this is Parma Police! Come out of the front door with your hands up! Do not have anything on your hands as you exit!”
Finally, they reach the porch. Another pause, and the command is given to breach the front door. The SWAT team enters single-file and fans out, looking for their suspect. In less than a minute, he is apprehended and escorted out.
Under normal circumstances, the SWAT team would clear the area and quickly take the suspect away for processing. But this isn’t a normal warrant service. This is a simulation at Simulated Scenario Village, part of the KeyBank Public Safety Training Center at Cuyahoga Community College’s Western Campus.
—Clayton Harris, dean of public safety
A PLACE TO LEARN
Simulated Scenario Village is a training complex constructed like a large movie set, with indoor and outdoor components. It provides a realistic stage on which to simulate events that police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel will encounter on the job.
The complex has a twofold mission: Enhance the education of Tri-C Public Safety cadets and serve as a training facility for police and fire departments throughout Northeast Ohio.
The ability to customize the layout is one of the village’s biggest advantages. It means it never delivers the same training experience twice. During their visit, Parma’s officers gathered after each exercise to discuss details, review techniques and identify any mistakes.
“We have to be prepared for the unexpected in this line of work,” said Commander Jamie Tavano of Tri-C’s Basic Police Academy. “The moveable walls allow us to create many different scenarios, which keeps everyone sharp. You can’t simply anticipate the layout here.”
Opened in late 2019, the village consists of an administrative center and four staged scenario buildings — the house, a two-story commercial building, a three-story commercial/ office building and a single-floor building with a circular drive.
The layout is based on input from various law enforcement, fire and rescue agencies around the region. It also drew inspiration from other facilities around the country, including Hogan’s Alley, the FBI’s training complex in Quantico, Virginia.
“We had an advisory group with representatives from all around the area,” said Clayton Harris, dean of public safety at Tri-C. “We wanted the most detailed, comprehensive training environment, both for our students and the agencies who use the facility.”
Each of the four staged scenario buildings has an open interior with concrete floors. The ceiling on each floor is lined with a grid of tracks, upon which hundreds of wall panels can be manually shifted into countless arrangements simulating rooms, closets, offices and cubicles. The ability to customize the training experience extends beyond the walls of the buildings. The entire village — arranged along an approximately quarter-mile two-lane street — allows law enforcement agencies and Tri-C cadets to train for virtually any situation they might encounter on the job. That ranges from SWAT calls and hostage situations to domestic disputes and routine traffic stops.
“It’s not just about training once you’re in the building,” said Officer Tom Desmarteau of Parma Police. “It’s about what goes on in the surrounding area. Here, we can go through a simulation of just about any experience. You’re pulling up to a building or a car, surveying the scene and mentally preparing yourself. It’s a high-stress environment, and you want to come as close as you can to the real thing.”
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
As Parma SWAT served their arrest warrant, more training was taking place about 100 yards away. While the loudspeaker on the MRAP issued its mandates, this training was silent, concealed in the shadows on the ground floor of the village’s two-story building.
Two snipers peered through their sights as the SWAT team stormed the house. The building provided an ideal vantage point from which to scan the entire scene for trouble.
“There are a lot of things to consider when finding a sniper position, especially in a wooded or urban setting, and this village offers both,” Desmarteau said. “You have to consider how to conceal yourself, how to get the best possible vantage point and whether you will have to stand or lie down. We were on the ground floor for this exercise, but the village also has rooftops at different heights so you can give snipers different perspectives for their training as well.”
Two of the structures — the house and the two-story commercial building — are also equipped with smoke generators. The machines produce “theater smoke” — thick white smoke capable of obscuring the entire interior of a building, creating an environment of near-complete blindness while still being breathable. The smoke machines allow police to simulate an entry involving the use of tear gas. They also create an ideal training environment for cadets in Tri-C’s Fire Training Academy.
“In the burn buildings adjacent to the village, we’re actually burning material, which means everyone, including the instructors, has to use SCBAs [self-contained breathing apparatus] for breathing,” said Dan Waitkus, director of the fire academy. “It makes communication more difficult. The burn buildings are still essential for advanced training, but now, we can train our first-year cadets in zero-visibility search and rescue without the need for instructors to wear masks.”
The buildings can be used for other fire and EMS training, including proper ventilation, ladder use and extraction of victims from confined spaces. Police, fire and EMS can even conduct joint training.
“If you have an active-shooter situation where paramedics have to get into a building to tend to victims while police are engaging the suspect, we can act that out here,” Tavano said. “We can also utilize the street for scenarios where you might need crowd control, where the police are dispersing people while fire and EMS have to get in and tend to those injured.
“The type of training we can offer here is almost limitless.”
ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER
The village’s centerpiece is its administrative center, which houses classrooms, a control center with a full view of the village, a physical activity room with a padded floor, a fully equipped jail cell, a dispatch training center and a video simulator.
Located on the second floor, the control center operates much like an air traffic control tower. During exercises, instructors can monitor activity, give directions, and control smoke and lighting effects. Across the hall, the dispatch training center allows instructors to integrate dispatchers into the simulated scenarios outside.
The basement contains the padded activity room and jail cell, which can be used to train corrections officers on how to properly secure, search and detain an inmate.
But the most technologically advanced room in the administrative center is the video simulator. In the simulator, five floor-to-ceiling rear projection monitors surround the trainee, each with its own speaker system, immersing them in any of hundreds of situations. It’s all controlled by an instructor sitting at a computer in the next room.
“It teaches you to think on your feet,” Desmarteau said. “You could be walking up to a couple of kids drinking out in the woods, and then suddenly a couple more of their friends come out behind you. You have to quickly ascertain the situation and react.”
The instructor can add distractions, such as barking dogs or planes flying overhead, to create additional stress. In addition, trainees may wear a belt that delivers a small electric shock as another stress element.
“The distracting sounds can come from the side or behind you, since each screen has its own speakers,” Tavano said. “The indoor simulator, much like the outdoor simulations, teaches you how to process information amid stress and distractions.”
“Previously, we had one single-floor building, or we’d use a vacant school building,” said Lt. Shawn Smith, the officer in charge of training for the Cleveland Police Academy. “Now we have a facility in town where we can change the layout and keep the training from getting stale. Cleveland Police has always had a great relationship with Tri-C, and this will strengthen it even more.”
Instructors can alter the video scenario based on the trainee’s reaction.
“If they’re asking the right questions, staying aware of their surroundings and de-escalating the situation, they’ll have a suspect who likely complies,” Desmarteau said. “If they’re hesitant, don’t notice things or aren’t keeping control of the situation, we can alter the scenario so the suspect becomes noncompliant or even violent.”
LONG-TERM BENEFITS
Simulated Scenario Village brings nearly every aspect of first responder training into one complex, not only providing Tri-C cadets with the best possible education, but saving area law enforcement agencies money in their training budgets as well. In addition to Parma Police, Cleveland Fire, Cleveland Police and Cleveland State University Police have used the village for training thus far.
—Clayton Harris
Prior to the village’s construction, finding a suitable training location could often be luck-of-the-draw for local agencies.
“Usually, you’d have to find a vacant house or some other location, negotiate its use with the owner … it can just be pure chance that you find a location to use that you can afford,” Desmarteau said. “Now, we have everything we need right here in town.”
“So much credit goes to Chief Harris for having the vision to create this, and to everyone who was involved in designing and building it,” Tavano added. “Even now, we’re only scratching the surface of what this village can become.”
Harris said the investment Tri-C made in the village’s construction aims to achieve one goal: To staff local communities with well-prepared first responders.
“It means a great deal to our students, and to external agencies, to have this world-class facility nearby,” Harris said. “Tri-C has always had the best instructors in public safety. Now we have the best facility to go along with it. It’s a combination that is going to make us even more sought-after as a training destination.”
