Members of the Chief’s Advisory Councils (CAC) received a crash course in control tactics used by EPS. The CAC comprises citizens from various backgrounds and spans all segments of society, but on this night they all found out what it was like to stand in a police officer’s boots.
“We want to expose them to some information about what our members would be facing. But the bigger piece is to educate them on our processes: What are we doing? The research behind it. The science behind it,” said Staff Sgt. Joe Tassone.
Following an information session, CAC members geared up, paired off, and were given a brief rundown before entering situational scenarios. They were given the standard amount of information EPS members receive before responding to a call. For some, the lack of information was unsettling.
“You’re going in blind - you're given a small context and you have to kind of wing it. So, for me I was nervous,” said Zaki Haribe.
“I WOULD’VE BEEN DEAD”
The council members were placed in unpredictable situations with volatile subjects. Some of them have faced similar scenarios in their own line of work and were hoping to exploit that. Karlin Su works with psychiatric patients and says this experience was a mixed bag for her.
“I have been exposed to really stressful circumstances, but this was different. Instead of working in my environment where I know I have a team and resources that are behind me, I'm walking into a scenario where I literally don't know what I'm going into,” said Su.
The scenarios were recorded and later analyzed by the group which led to a Q & A session. Most of the guests, overall, were caught off-guard by the scenarios and say they have a better understanding of what police experience daily, and what isn’t shown on traditional and social media channels.
“Media is an entertainment business. They don't show everything. You don't get to know what happened beforehand, what the individual was doing,” said Taylor Dabison.
The overriding message was about context and transparency, while giving CAC members a small sample of life as a cop.
“I think it does give them an opportunity to truly understand and appreciate some of the competing interests that we go through,” said Tassone.