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surveillance officers. International programs continue to provide contem-
porary police training to Saudi Arabia and China, both in New Westmin-
ster and overseas. An important recent development is the strengthening
of the Academy’s applied research capability, working with the Canadian
Police Research Centre and other academic institutions for the benefit of
the broader law enforcement community.

hen attending to complex situations that may require a force
response, police officers must exercise judgment based on a
rapid assessment of the situation—who or what is threatened
and the nature of the threat. As Academy Director Axel Hovbrender says,
“They have to determine whether it’s possible to resolve the situation peace-
fully, while at the same time making instantaneous decisions and assessing
their surroundings, the subjects—victims, survivors, perpetrators—and the
actions being taken or about to be taken.”

An applied researcher at the University of Ottawa, Judy McDonald,
has linked the way the world’s great athletes must learn to perform at their
best under extreme pressure to professionals in high-risk workplaces. Her
initial comparison was applied to hospital surgeons who dealt with intense,
high-pressure situations during operations. In Gold Medal Policing: Mental
Readiness and Performance Excellence, she relates this to frontline peace
officers who must constantly be prepared to deal with high-stress events
with the added burden of life-or-death outcomes. Her research has identi-
fied how exceptional front-line officers, like most emergency responders
accountable for public safety, perform their best in challenging situations;
be consistent; be ready on demand; manage distractions; stay focused, and
develop coping strategies.

At the JIBC, realistic simulation exercises allow students to explore
the boundaries of high-tension situations requiring swift judgment in
the graduated use of force, in a setting that closely replicates what they'll
experience in the line of duty (called Reality-Based Training or RBT).
In a typical call-for-service simulation, Sergeant Malcolm Evanson,
a Vancouver officer with over twenty years on the force, plans for a new
class of recruits to respond to a call to a one-bedroom apartment. As
in real life, they have limited information about the call, other than there’s
a male acting suspiciously. In a carefully scripted scenario, they will even-
tually discover that a deranged father is holding his infant daughter at
knifepoint.

The objective of the simulation is to guide and challenge the recruits
into responding with the appropriate force-response options. The third-
floor mock apartment overlooks the atrium of the JIBC’s main campus.
Everything about this scenario is authentic, but for the bullets and
the baby.