Police in the Windy City have garnered negative national headlines on several occasions, most recently with the video of officers entering Anjanette Young’s apartment to serve a warrant, which turned out to be the wrong residence, and Young was not the target of the warrant. Such incidents contributed to the Illinois Attorney General and City of Chicago seeking a consent decree against the Chicago Police Department, demanding significant police reforms, which was approved by the courts in 2019.

In accordance with the decree, more than 700 CPD activeduty officers have trained on a state-of-the-art simulator. What differentiates this technology from previous simulations is the incorporation of realistic weapons and unpredictable situations that prompt participants to make realtime assessments and choose force options. For example, to reflect current conditions, training facilitators added scenarios reenacting last year’s civil unrest and protests. The ability to present recent or unexpected conditions is designed to highlight an officer’s mindset during quick decision-making events.

“In these kinds of very highstress situations, people tend to fall back on automatic thinking and start making assumptions and mental shortcuts,” said Oeindrila Dube with the University of Chicago Crime Lab, which helped develop a new curriculum for law enforcement professionals, reports ABC7.

“What we’re striving for is significant and durable reform,” CPD Deputy Chief Daniel Godsel told the news station.