An English police force will be using virtual reality war games to train its officers in riot tactics. Using an interactive system developed by the Sevenoaks, Kent-based Centre of Defence Analysis, part of the UK’s Defence Evaluation & Research Agency, the Surrey Police will start training senior officers next month. The system, Close Action Environment, is already used by the UK military and forces overseas but the centre has been working to commercialise it for non-military use. The work with Surrey Police is the first such venture. And the centre is working on making the system a far more generic affair, of use in training people how to cope with emergencies such as a major oil spill. The gaming software, developed by the centre, runs on a Digital Equipment Corp Alpha workstation. The scenario – be it a potential riot, drug raid or just crowd control – appears as a two-dimensional map-type image with the police, rioters, buildings and so on, represented as symbols. It is here that the game is played. The workstation is connected to a Silicon Graphics Inc Onyx Reality engine which generates a three-dimensional image of the situation. From here, the officer designated in charge of whatever operation is being carried out, can order his men, at the Alphas, to t ake certain actions, which will then unfold on screen. At the moment there are only two ‘sides’, rioters and police, that can take part, but by the end of the year a multi-sided version which would support the participation of any number of groups, will be available. This would enable the police to consider their own men, rioters, emergency crews, bystanders and so on, while training.
