Enhancing Police Skills: Verbal De-Escalation Training Simulator

De-Escalation Simulator For Reduced Use of Force

Communication is at the core of various professions, particularly law enforcement, social work, healthcare, education, and management. Human interaction, when skillfully applied, serves as a crucial instrument, enabling law enforcement officers and other professionals to establish trust, foster transparency, facilitate cooperation, and defuse potentially volatile situations.

The art of clear communication to defuse tense situations is growing increasingly complex and can become extremely troublesome for a police department’s community relations if handled poorly. Law enforcement training must include highly skilled conflict resolution skills. This is where “multiple interactive learning objectives” and de-escalation simulation training can help.

Consider the diverse individuals that law enforcement engages with daily. Each person enters these situations with a range of preconceived notions—many of which they may not even be consciously aware of. This is particularly pronounced during confrontations, where emotional thinking and split-second responses to perceived cues become central factors.

In order to prevent a situation from escalating, officers must not rely on only a weapon in hand. Officers know their options to increase intensity up to and including lethal force, but the best officers learn how to reverse the direction of escalation with verbal communication, to increase the safety and security of everyone involved. To get there, law enforcement and other professionals must have the interpersonal and communication skills to listen to and engage with the communities they serve—and they must do so under prevailing real-world conditions and biases, not ideal “classroom” conditions.

Practice is essential to refining communication skills and de-escalation techniques. MILO simulators provide a safe place for trainees to practice difficult situations (e.g. an angry patient), rehearse de-escalating, observe the outcome, adjust, and try again.

Scenario-based Human Interaction Simulators

MILO systems—including the MILO Range and MILO VR — are not just a police training simulator; they are a next-generation approach to simulation-based de-escalation training. MILO law enforcement training scenarios are designed to go beyond marksmanship and firearms training. We don’t just provide police with a training system with options to escalate, because those can put people at greater risk, including law enforcement. MILO simulation also isn’t just a virtual firing range or a simple “use-of-force” or firearms training simulator; we put police officers in the types of situations they face most often. MILO Range simulators are immersive, scenario-based “human interaction simulators,” designed to enhance skills in peacefully resolving complex situations through effective communication, especially where two officers are involved.

Law enforcement agencies worldwide know that MILO’s de-escalation scenarios include the most advanced scenario-based, interactive training available. These scenarios have moved past the standard “observe and react” model in favor of a more complex model grounded in prolonged dialogue and interaction. Each scenario has a greater number of branches and possibilities to capture everything that a subject might say or do to complicate a conflict for the police.

MILO’s latest generations of scenarios focus on a much wider range of more challenging situations, including mental health response, well-being checks, interventions, and similarly emotionally charged incidents. Most scenarios can be run as multi-participant exercises and co-response models to help police officers acclimate to collaborating with social workers and mental health professionals in the field and practice ways they can communicate with each other, as well as with those involved in the incident, to reach the best outcome.

MILO Range simulation training has moved beyond just police departments; first responders, social workers, clinicians, nurses, and others are all benefiting from scenario-based human interaction simulators.

Verbal Proficiency and De-escalation Training

The tactics and concepts practiced in MILO training scenarios include methods that allow officers to become tactically proficient in the following learning objectives:

Establishing a calm demeanor
Active listening
Communicating empathy and respect
Maintaining personal space
Speaking calmly and clearly
Asking open-ended questions
Using reflective statements
Offering “options and empowerment”
Avoiding confrontation
Prioritizing public and officer safety

MILO’s advanced police training runs directly on the MILO Platform and comes standard with every MILO Range system. But while MILO’s verbal de-escalation training is integrated into a full force options simulator system (the MILO Range family of simulators), many of the scenarios in the latest generation of this system are “zero force option” scenarios, ideal for crisis responders and correctional officers.

New dialogue-based scenarios are released several times each year with scenario pack updates to all MILO Range users.

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De-escalation Training Partner

Expert-led De-escalation Training with our Trusted Partners: Command Presence

For the most advanced de-escalation training available, we have partnered with Command Presence to provide your agency with specialized de-escalation training, including the debrief—where most learning happens. This training equips police officers and others with the skills and techniques necessary to effectively manage high-stress situations, position officers to reduce conflict and ensure safer outcomes for all involved. Command Presence’s expert instructors bring decades of real-world experience, ensuring your team receives high-quality, actionable training to de-escalate amid today’s rapidly changing policing challenges.

De-Escalation: Strategies for Best Possible Outcomes

De-escalation is a word that is frequently discussed by community members, politicians, and the media, but it is rarely defined and often misunderstood. This course empowers participants to have intelligent, evidence-informed conversations with the public and provides valuable tools for engaging with people in crisis. Not all situations can be defused with words, but this course focuses on de-escalation skills to help officers achieve the best possible outcomes. Through guided discussions, small group exercises, and practical tools, participants will:

Explain the truths of de-escalation to members of the public
Learn to self-regulate their emotions in high-stress environments
Explore the foundational elements of all human mental functions (thoughts, emotions, behaviors)
Learn effective tools for dealing with persons in crisis
Explore response tactics for the best possible outcomes

Appropriate Audience
De-escalation is designed not just for training brand-new recruits, but also for local law enforcement, sworn personnel, correctional officers, dispatchers, trainers, supervisors, investigators, behavioral health interventionists, and professionals involved in public safety, security, education, healthcare, and guest services. With verbal de-escalation techniques at the ready, a police officer’s level of skill increases dramatically.

‍Course Length
8-hour-End User
24-hour- Train the Trainer

“ An excellent introduction to de-escalation that offers tips and models that can immediately be put into practice.” – An Officer from Tennessee