Walking in their shoes

MT. PLEASANT - With a taser gun and airsoft pistol strapped onto a belt and a flashlight in hand, several Mt. Pleasant residents were able to experience firsthand what local police officers may encounter while on the job.

The Mt. Pleasant Police Department invited people to participate in a simulation training which included scenarios such as domestic disputes and traffic stops, led by Officer Robert Szewzyk. Each participant donned belts with items officers usually carry and role-played with officers who had done the simulation training just hours earlier.

Police Chief Lyle Murray said the simulation is the first time the department has invited members of the public to participate in the training and felt it could help people better understand 'the decision making that [officers] have to make.”

Participants were briefed as if they were officers receiving calls from dispatch and were asked to navigate the scenarios as law enforcement officials.

Among the situations participants navigated during the simulation were attempting to break up a brawl and dealing with a knife-wielding person as well as confronting a suicidal man who had previously been in a domestic dispute and was suspected to have a gun.

In the second scenario, following the conclusion of the simulation, the man would be found without a weapon and holding only a cellphone.

Murray noted afterward all his officers responded to the situation with force when the man began threatening violence, as did all participants from the public.

'You go with the information that you have,” he explained.

Faith Brehm and Traci Bender, both employees at Iowa Wesleyan University who participated in the training, said they volunteered to take part when offered the invitation.

After completing the simulation, Bender added she felt everything 'goes so fast” when in the moment.

Trey Hegar, pastor for the local Presbyterian Church who was previously part of the Marine Corps, echoed Bender's statement that everything seems to happen quickly when faced with escalating situations.

'A lot of what happens is instinctual, but it shows why training is important,” he said.

The pastor said he wanted to participate to 'walk in the shoes” of police officers and 'see what they go through.”

Hegar said participating in the training brought back his own training from his time in the armed forces.

'Instantaneously, I was reverting back to some of that combat training,” he said.

He added the experience was 'eye-opening” and gives more background on why officers sometimes make the decisions that they make.

'You know, it's hard. Someone comes at you with a knife, even if it's a scenario, your adrenaline gets going … We don't know the information beforehand. We don't always get that whole story when we hear about what the police are doing,” Hegar said.

The pastor added he does wish there were more instances for de-escalation to take place.

'Sometimes I do think showing up escalates things but you can't just not,” he said.

The police chief said he felt the first simulation with the public went well and hopes to continue to offer the opportunity once or twice a year in the future.

'I just think it's good for the public to see what the officers have to go through … It's not as easy as it is just to sit at home and second guess things when the general public actually goes through it and sees what happens,” he said.