Changing your reality: How virtual reality could transform police training

We wrote earlier in the week about how hard it is to drive a change in police culture and about how police forces are, in my opinion, missing a trick by not leveraging the artificial intelligence (AI) and automation digital leadership solutions that exist to help support culture change from within. 

But this is not the only trick that the police are missing out on. Immersive technology can play just as important a role as AI and automation to support the drive for culture change. 

Police leaders are not oblivious to immersive technology and have started to explore it for training on high-risk operational scenarios that are hard or expensive to replicate such as firearms training, domestic abuse, stop and search and crime scene forensics.  

Using Immersive Technology on race, diversity and inclusion 

Virtual reality (VR) though can also be used to create scenarios on race, diversity and inclusion that allow users to feel, hear and experience different perspectives in a totally immersive lifelike environment. The experiences powered through the use of VR headsets are designed to encourage people to ‘feel the injustice’ to drive them to examine and change their own behaviours. 

Used in facilitated sessions, these virtual reality experiences connect and engage people at deeper and more meaningful levels, driving behavioural and cultural change.  

In the private sector, firms like ours are embracing immersive technology to change our own culture and drive behavioural change in our own people around diversity. We have created a VR experience called ‘In My Shoes’ which is being rolled out to our people. ‘In My Shoes’ is a virtual reality experience built in collaboration with our multicultural business network which incorporates the direct experiences of ethnic minority communities, and covers the following themes: 

• Differing cultural values and the impact on career 

• Microaggressions in and outside of the workplace 

• Persistent stereotypes 

• Undermining of authority 

• Requirement to work harder to achieve equivalent status 

• Movement of goalposts 

• Pressure to create a facade to fit in 

We have shown this virtual reality ‘In My Shoes’ experience to several police leaders and it has received excellent feedback even though the existing scenarios are not specific to policing. Lessons around race, diversity and inclusion transcend organisations and industries so learning can be delivered cost effectively if organisations are willing to use standardised experiences. 

To take advantage of these benefits, we encourage all organisations to think how virtual reality could enrich their culture change and training programmes. 

Author:

Muz Janoowalla, Twitter Handle: @Statman_Who

Benjamin Oghene

Georgie Morgan

Head of Justice and Emergency Services, techUK

Georgie joined techUK as the Justice and Emergency Services (JES) Programme Manager in March 2020, progressing to Head of Programme in January 2022.

In her current role, Georgie leads techUK’s engagement and initiatives across the blue light and criminal justice sectors. She works closely with industry and stakeholders to drive innovation, address challenges, and anticipate future needs, while showcasing the critical role technology plays in delivering essential public safety and justice services. Through the JES programme, she provides a platform for suppliers, helping them navigate and establish themselves in the blue light and criminal justice markets.

Before joining techUK, Georgie spent four and a half years managing a Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) in Westminster. Collaborating with the Metropolitan Police and local councils, she focused on mitigating the impact of crime on the business community. Her efforts spanned addressing low-level street crime and anti-social behavior to managing critical incidents and violent crime.

Email:

[email protected]

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgie-henley/

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