The National Police Agency has finished installing its first virtual reality (VR) police training systems at seven police departments and institutions across Taiwan to prepare police officers for tense situations in the line of duty.
The VR systems were installed at the New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi County police departments, as well as the Railway Police Bureau, the Taiwan Police College and the First Police Special Corps 6th Corps at the end of last year, costing NT$45 million (US$1.48 million), the agency said.
Although some local police forces had acquired augmented reality (AR) immersive police training systems under a special project launched in 2020, the VR training systems are the first of their kind in Taiwan and offer new training features, the agency said.
Photo: CNA
They require users to wear headsets, while the AR systems, which use projection screens, do not, enabling the simulation of different settings, including karaoke bars, concourses, train carriages and checkpoints.
Through such simulations, officers are trained to be more aware of their surroundings, while having the opportunity to practice their skills and become more familiar with situations that require them to use weapons, which would improve their performance in a crisis, it said.
Trained officers can be prepared for a wide range of scenarios, such as when faced with provocations, threats, attempts to flee or attacks by a suspect, in which they have to respond quickly and appropriately, it said.
The system also enables officers to simulate talking with suspects, choosing from different types of police weapons and deciding when to fire a gun, and it even has a “multiplayer” mode in which multiple officers can train at the same time to provide “backup” for their colleagues.
The renewed emphasis on training for police officers to handle unexpected situations or crises comes after the death of railway police officer Lee Cheng-han (李承翰).
Lee was stabbed in 2019 at the Taiwan Railways Administration Chiayi Station by a passenger riding without a ticket who had an altercation with the conductor before Lee was called to the scene.
Former National Police Agency director-general Chen Ja-chin (陳家欽) said in 2020 that in the wake of Lee’s death, the agency was given a budget of NT$480 million to procure and install situational simulation shooting ranges around Taiwan to train police officers to make quick and sound judgements while on duty.
The agency said it intends to purchase more VR training systems to install at other police departments and institutions, and to ask instructors to create virtual settings based on past missions that would make the training more realistic and broaden its scope.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
RSS