OLIVIA WIESELER: Appreciation column for the blue

*This column contains strong/violent imagery.

One of the things I love about my job is how unexpected it can be sometimes.

Take this Wednesday, Dec. 1, for example. I was at Western Nebraska Community College for a specific event, but came back to the office with an entirely different story. My first event fell through, but as I was walking down the hall with Marketing Director Allison Judy, we came across criminal justice students participating in the college’s new law enforcement simulator for the first time.

I had never seen anything like it. It was like virtual reality without the headset.

Students would stand in front of the screen and attempt to calm an active shooter or break up a domestic violence dispute. While the trainers were going a little easy on the students since they were just diving head first into these situations, they did show what escalated situations could look like.

I watched with horror as a man shot his ex-wife in the head before turning toward the screen to shoot at the student, with a baby crying right behind him. Sure it was fake, virtual; it could be turned off and no one actually got hurt. However, because of my strong imagination and fairly empathetic nature, it felt very real to me. And, the scary thing to me is that this is a real situation that law enforcement officers can encounter and have encountered before.

With how much of a bad rep law enforcement has been getting in recent years, the simulator really put into perspective just how tough the job actually is and how split-second decisions can have long-term effects.

The simulator allowed students to be in a certain scenario with hundreds of different outcomes based on their handling of it. Then they could pause the video and dissect what they did and what they should have done — what was right and what was wrong. Oftentimes, Nebraska State Trooper Tim Flick, who was guiding them through the simulations, would say that what they did was neither right nor wrong.

“Is it a bad thing? Maybe, maybe not,” he often said when evaluating the students. “He’s (the student) got to be the one that articulates in front of the jury as to why (he did what he did).”

As I watched them go through various simulations, all I could think about was how scared I was just watching it, and how frozen I would be if I was trying to keep the situation under control. I don’t know what I would say to someone who is yelling at the top of their lungs with a knife in their hand or someone who was clearly driving drunk as he reaches into the glove compartment.

I was asked if I wanted to try going in front of the simulator, but I had already seen enough. I’ve always respected the job of a police officer, but witnessing the simulation made me truly appreciate and have a better understanding of just how difficult and stressful this job is. It’s something I’d never be able to do, and I’m glad there are people willing to put themselves in these situations that could easily backfire on them with a wrong split-second decision.

“Sometimes, we get paid to get hurt,” Flick told the students. “It’s just the way it is.”

I applaud anyone who willingly goes into such a profession.

*Originally published in the Gering Courier on Dec. 4, 2021.