Criminal Training Through the Use of Virtual Environments

February 18, 2010 - The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a component of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). NIJ provides objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to enhance the administration of justice and public safety. NIJ solicits applications to inform its search for the knowledge and tools to guide policy and practice.

NIJ seeks proposals for solutions applying modeling and simulation technology to enhance criminal justice training through the use of virtual environments. NIJ is willing to consider applications for the development of new technology or for the adaptation, test, or evaluation of existing technology in a criminal justice application.

Virtual reality technologies provide the potential for significant enhancements in training for criminal justice personnel. Work requirements, limited training facilities, and budgetary constraints limit the number and quality of training opportunities for law enforcement and corrections practitioners, particularly with regard to dealing with critical incidents, such as hostage situations, in-progress robberies, prison riots, and the like, where the ability to make accurate split-second decisions with minimal information is vital. Furthermore, realistic training is needed to ensure proper protocols are followed during investigations, such as the procedures used during the inspection of a crime scene, where attention to detail is critical. To keep these perishable skills honed, criminal justice agencies need improved, cost effective means to conduct realistic interactive training to deal with such situations, using minimal or no training infrastructure. Ideally, the technology would enable realistic, meaningful training to be conducted any place at any time, or less desirably at a police station or in an existing training facility.

Technologies that engage as many of the five senses as possible are highly desired as they enable trainees to experience each scenario in as realistic a fashion as possible. The technologies should provide editing tools for configuring the virtual environment to specific locations and threats of concern to a criminal justice agency and to the types of equipment and protocols that the agency uses.

Virtual technology training tools are currently available, many of which have been developed by the military. However, these tools are often too expensive for most of the Nation’s criminal justice agencies.

With this solicitation, NIJ seeks a prototype secured virtual environment to facilitate low-cost (or no cost) and efficient on-line, distributed virtual training for the criminal justice community. NIJ is willing to consider applications for the development of new technology or for the adaptation, test, or evaluation of existing technology in a criminal justice application. The prototype should facilitate an on-line capability via an internet connection with minimal client software in a thin-client configuration. Proposals should use creative technologies and ideas to enhance individual, team-based or community-based training with or without an instructor. The prototype should also include a capture mechanism for after-action review of activities in the virtual environment to facilitate student learning. As one example, the virtual environment could be the virtual inspection of a virtual crime scene. NIJ seeks creativity and forward-thinking innovations and ideas.

More Information
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl000916.pdf