COVID-19 and the Efficacy of Using Virtual Reality Scenarios to Safely Train Police in Mental Health Crisis Response

来自瑞尔森大学、威尔弗里德·劳里埃大学和维多利亚大学的研究人员与Dark Slope合作，计划开发一个VR培训系统，以确保在COVID-19大流行期间，以新奥尔良为基地的警察在降级和心理健康危机应对方面的培训能够继续下去。应副检察长部的要求，研究小组最近将他们的循证培训方案发展成为安大略各地官员的标准化课程。然而，COVID-19导致的社会隔离措施使以尼日利亚为基地的培训成为不可能。这种暂停警察心理健康危机应对培训的做法危险地损害了公众和警官的安全，特别是考虑到目前警察要求为心理健康危机中的公民提供服务的呼声高涨。该研究团队打算将其基于网络的课程迁移到虚拟现实（VR）平台上。我们将在8个月的时间内提供这种新方法，以确保在大流行限制期间，心理健康危机应对培训可以安全地继续进行，而不会影响循证培训方案的有效性。在这段时间内，我们将有一个清晰的愿景，如何将新的元素（社交距离指南，官员和公共安全，COVID相关的压力源）纳入培训场景，以及如何最大限度地发挥VR作为培训平台的潜力。具体来说，我们将深入了解如何使用VR来减少对现场演员的依赖;混合决策系统如何优化非玩家角色（NPC）/化身的响应性和可扩展性之间的权衡;场景和培训如何发展以将COVID-19特定元素纳入VR环境中;以及更一般地说，VR如何提高基于网络的降级培训的有效性和可扩展性。作为对COVID-19的回应，该研究将技术和工程研究应用于直接服务于循证方法，以帮助在执法部门和更广泛的社会之间建立更安全，更公平的关系，特别是那些经常被边缘化的公民，如患有严重精神疾病的人。

In partnership with Dark Slope, researchers from Ryerson University, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the University of Victoria plan to develop a VR-training system to ensure that scenario-based police training in de-escalation and mental health crisis response can continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the request of the Ministry of the Solicitor General, the research team recently developed their evidence-based training protocol into a standardized curriculum for officers across Ontario. However, the social isolation measures due to COVID-19 have made scenario-based training an impossibility. This suspension of police training in mental health crisis response dangerously compromises both public and officer safety, particularly in light of the current upsurge in police calls for service to respond to citizens in mental health crisis. The research team intends to migrate its scenario-based curriculum onto a Virtual Reality (VR) platform. This new approach, which we will deliver in an 8-month timeframe, will ensure mental health crisis response training can continue safely during pandemic restrictions without compromising the effectiveness of the evidence-based training protocol. Within this time-frame, we will have a clear vision of how to incorporate new elements (social-distancing guidelines, officer and public safety, COVID-related stressors) into training scenarios, and how to maximize the potential of VR as a platform for training. Specifically, we will gain insights into how VR can be used to reduce the reliance on in-person actors on-site; how a hybrid decision-making system can optimize tradeoffs between responsiveness and scalability with Non-Player Character (NPC)/avatars; how scenarios and training can evolve to incorporate COVID-19-specific elements in a VR context; and, more generally, how VR can increase the effectiveness and scalability of scenario-based de-escalation training. As a response to COVID-19, the research applies technology and engineering research in direct service to evidence-based approaches to help create a safer, more equitable relationship between law enforcement and the wider society, particularly citizens who are often marginalized such as those living with serious mental illness.