The new Danville Police Department building is a major improvement. Not only is it four times larger than its predecessor, it also has the same technology as two other police departments in the western region.
The Multiple Interactive Learning Objectives Simulator, or MILO, is a use-of-force simulation used to train incoming police officers.
“You’re going to have shooting/don’t shoot situations,” said Lt. Col. Dean Hairston, deputy police chief. “You get a gun that looks like yours, but it interacts with the projector.”
Hairston said the woman in the simulation could tell you someone was threatening her with a gun. The guy might jump up while lying on the couch and point a gun at you.
“Or it could mean the remote control,” Hairston said. “You have to decide whether to shoot or not.”
The MILO simulator is a $30,000 system purchased by the Danville Police Department through a gift from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant.
This grant is the primary source of federal justice funding for state and local governments. It provides funds for a variety of programs including law enforcement, prosecution, court and crime prevention.
The Danville Police Department announced the purchase and funding of MILO in January.
According to a list provided by MILO training content specialist Lawrence Kehoe, there are 18 police departments or sheriff’s offices in Virginia that have a MILO system.
But 15 of those are in the Northern Virginia, Richmond or Hampton Roads areas.
In the western part of the state, only the Danville Police Department, the Blacksburg Police Department and the Covington City Police Department have MILO badges.
These numbers do not include private businesses, training institutes, schools or other organizations that may have simulators.
But, when those organizations are included, there are more than 60 MILO systems in Virginia — and fewer than 10 in the southwest part of the state, said Amanda Williams, outreach manager at MILO.
This means the Danville department has technology not available in other large cities in the region.
The simulator is located in a room on the ground floor of the new police station. There’s a large projector screen at one end of the room, which is otherwise mostly empty space. While the simulation is running, the room will be completely dark and a status will appear on the screen.
Simulation model tools interact with the on-screen projection. Police officers have the same look and feel as the weapons they carry on them or in the back of their vehicles, Hairston said.
The MILO website describes this simulation as “immersive” and “emotionally powerful”.
“To prepare for the real complexity of their job, law enforcement officers need opportunities to train in realistic and open-ended situations — ones that test their situational awareness and keep all of their suppression and enforcement options on the table,” the website says.
This system will be a major factor in changing the way Danville police use force, one of the department’s goals, Police Chief Scott Booth said on August 19 at the soft opening of the new building.
“We now have a training facility for use-of-force simulations, so we can work harder and faster to change how officers deal with use-of-force,” Booth said. “That’s a big part of what we’re doing.”
Although the primary function of the MILO simulator is training, the department may make arrangements to invite citizens and politicians to use the simulator.
“Once people have been through that situation, they have more understanding and more empathy for the officer’s plight when they make a split-second decision,” Hairston said. “We want you to put yourself in the officer’s shoes and see what it’s like to be in the situation.”
One such event is planned for September 27 when community youth can come in and use the MILO simulator. This event, called Passing the Sight, will be hosted by Cpl. Sylvia Brooks, the department’s youth engagement officer.
To sign up to pass through the Perspective program, call Brooks at 434-797-8898 ext. 1.
“We want our citizens to experience the training simulation of our officers. This helps provide a deeper understanding of how officials make split second decisions in high-pressure situations.
At the former police department site, community members were much less involved.
A few weeks ago, the department was spread across different locations and served in a 12,000 sq.ft. But mainly, the department is located in the basement of the municipal building, where it has been since 1926.
Hairston said he worked for 20 years without a window in his office.
This new space was renovated using historic tax credits in the former Dan River Executive Office. It is 57,000 square feet and the department lacks services and technology.
The $18 million project was a collaboration between the city of Danville and developer Ed Walker. Hairston was the director of the project.
On a scale of 1 to 10, the safety of the old building was zero, Hairston said.
Now, there is ballistic glass around the department’s front desk, which can stop high-powered rifles and is monitored on all exterior doors.
In the past, “we’ve had people come through the regular glass and throw bricks” or assault front desk officers, Hairston said. “That won’t happen here. The worst thing we suffer here is harsh speech.
The new building has gun safes in the hallway in case of an emergency, a gym and officers’ locker room, and a multipurpose room for community events.
The department is working on building a closed circuit television station in the new building, so the police can monitor the area without police officers.
These features will allow the new department to reach its potential, something it was unable to do in the old building, Booth said. There was no meeting place for community members to address issues, no place for officers to change into or out of uniform, no training area for new recruits.
In the past three years, Danville has seen a 50% drop in violent crime. And that change happened when the department was operating with substandard space and equipment, Booth said.
“We are an incredible class without these things,” he said. “What would we be if we had the tools? I’m here to tell you today, we have the tools now.”
The police department’s new address, 1 Community Way, is an indication that the department and the community are united, Booth said.
The building’s grand opening to the public will be sometime in October, said Jennifer Boles, public relations specialist for the department. As of August 30th, all police department jobs are officially housed in the new location.
The new location will eventually equal the level of service the Danville Police Department provides to citizens on a daily basis, Bowes said.
And a training facility, including a MILO simulator, will be instrumental in helping the department grow.
“Our new headquarters will be a great tool for retaining, recruiting and hiring new officers,” Bowles said.
