FBI purchases training simulator

The FBI National Academy has purchased a portable digital simulator that will enable agencies to create real-world scenarios for indoor and outdoor firearms training.

IES Interactive Training's Range 3000 XP4 generates sounds and images to create scenarios, and an instructor evaluates how agents analyze and react to different situations.

The scenarios would be run on a laptop computer and projected onto a screen. The FBI trainee would encounter a scene and make decisions based on the situation, such as talking to a suspect or drawing a weapon. An instructor operating the system could change the path of the events based on the trainee's reaction.

The system comes with more than 100 scenarios, but the academy can tape and edit them for the training program.

Littleton, Colo.-based IES will provide the FBI with a weeklong training session in August to familiarize FBI instructors with the simulators.

NASA, the Transportation Security Administration and the United States Border Patrol currently use the Range 3000 XP4.