Category: Public Safety19.09.2025

What is Use of Force Training Technology and How is It Beneficial?

by Mel Mathis

At some point in their careers, most officers will be involved in some type of incident that involves the use of force to keep themselves or the public safe. During these situations, the stakes couldn’t be any higher, and it’s important that each officer has adequate training to respond when this time comes.

Because of this, use of force training is a critical part of certifying new recruits and is continually used for ongoing education of established police officers. However, with the introduction of new training technologies, the way training is used is evolving.

What Is Use of Force?

Use of force encompasses a broad range of actions officers may need to take to gain compliance from an unwilling individual. While this category is typically defined as whenever an officer needs to take more aggressive action to de-escalate a situation, it can involve anything from using verbal commands, using debilitating devices, or discharging weapons and using lethal force.

Why It’s Under the Microscope

Because of the wide media coverage that many use-of-force incidents receive, there is now increased scrutiny placed on police and public safety departments to ensure officers are carrying out use-of-force actions in a legal and ethical manner.

Over the years, there have been several high-profile cases associated with individual officers, perhaps lacking the proper training or supervision, who have used force in ways not prescribed by law enforcement certification programs. This has made ongoing use of force training a critical component of officer development.

Primary Goals of Use of Force Training

• Prioritizing Safety for Officers and Civilians – The primary goal of providing officers with use of force training is to give them the tools and techniques necessary to keep themselves and others safe. Officers often face unpredictable situations within the field, and knowing how to respond when someone is either uncompliant or violent can mean the difference between life and death for officers, suspects, and any incident bystanders in the area when incidents are taking place.
• Teaching De-escalation and Proportional Response – Another important element of officer training is knowing how to de-escalate situations verbally, non-verbally, or physically. Depending on the situation, one or all of these techniques may need to be used to help reduce the tension of a developing situation. Use of force training doesn’t just train officers how to react in high-stress environments, but also what proportional responses look like based on individual circumstances.
• Understanding Legal and Ethical Requirements – A major consideration of use of force training is for officers to understand their legal rights and the rights of all individuals they interact with. This involves training on the correct circumstances in which physical force is warranted, as well as recognizing the ethical dilemmas they may face and how to make decisions based on individuals they encounter in the field.

Challenges That Come Up in Use of Force Training

As with all forms of law enforcement training, there are some challenges that come up that agencies need to account for when conducting various training courses:

• Absence of Cohesive National Training Protocols – One of the largest challenges agencies face in use of force training is that there isn’t a single, cohesive national training protocol that’s used. While there may be certain regulations around certain techniques used in the field, the specific skills necessary for training, including the number of hours trained in different areas, can range significantly from state to state.
• One-size-fits-all Training Scenarios – Because of the lack of standardization, many agencies may decide to create a one-size-fits-all training regime for all their new recruits. The challenge with this is that in the real world, situations rarely follow an A-to-B script. In real life, things go wrong fast and unexpectedly, and carrying out a rigid training protocol doesn’t always provide all the skills an officer may need in the field.
• Minimal Stress Testing in Traditional Programs – While training for situations officers are likely to face, most classroom settings can’t adequately replicate the adrenaline surge and tunnel vision that can impact decision-making in the moment. If officers aren’t conditioned adequately to perform under more psychological stress, it becomes much harder to act decisively in the moment.

How is Technology Being Incorporated Into Modern Force Training Exercises?

With the introduction of advanced AI-assisted training simulation platforms, police officers are now able to go through much more engaging use of force education. Using immersive tools like Virtual Reality (VR) headsets and laser-based weapons, officers can receive highly unique training simulations that help them to prepare more effectively for what they’ll experience in the field.

For example, using a VR headset or projection screens, officers can be instantly transported to life-like critical environments with AI-enabled scenarios that react to officers’ commands, movements and tone of voice. They may also engage in hostile surroundings, leveraging simulated firearms with pinpoint accuracy and haptic feedback.

One of the biggest advantages of this type of equipment is that once training exercises are completed, officers and their instructors are immediately provided with individual performance metrics that show how well trainees responded to different scenarios, the effectiveness of their use of force, and the precision of their firearms usage.

Benefits of Technology-Enabled Use of Force Training Tools

• Realistic and Immersive Environments – Technology-based use of force training tools places officers in 360-degree, highly immersive training simulations that replicate the sights and sounds of a real-life environment. This creates a more authentic training experience and triggers the stress response of trainees more effectively.
• Error-forgiving Structure – Unlike in live fire training exercises or when receiving practical training in the fields, VR-enabled use of force training doesn’t have the same consequences when mistakes are made. Because of this, trainees can spend more time practicing and retraining using different tactics without fear of injury.
• Real-time Feedback Loops – Technology-enabled training tools provide a real-time feedback loop by capturing detailed data on trainee performance. Trainers can then immediately review a session with a trainer, showing them exactly how they reacted and where they should improve. This quick and objective review helps reinforce good judgment far more effectively than traditional training methods.
• Encourages Fair and Proportional Responses – Immersive training exercises help ensure an officer’s response to dynamic situations is both fair and proportional. By providing a safe platform to practice de-escalation, it sharpens communication skills so that force becomes a last resort, not a first instinct. The data gathered during these simulations can also help trainers identify and address an officer’s unconscious biases, ensuring their actions are guided by the facts and not unconscious bias.

Train on Use of Force Tactics More Effectively

Increasing the effectiveness of your use of force training is all about creating better outcomes for officers and the public. By providing trainees with more realistic and repeatable training scenarios that mimic the real-life stressful situations they’re likely to face, they’ll be much more equipped to handle use-of-force scenarios safely, legally, and ethically going forward.