Department of Criminal Justice stays up-to-date with new equipment

The basement of the CSI Center recently received a new addition that provides students with a “very realistic” patrolling experience. 

The Department of Criminal Justice and Social Sciences was gifted with a Patrol Simulator 7 created by L3Harris. According to department Chairperson Adam Jack, this magnitude of patrolling simulator equipment is not rare to see at police academies, but it is rare for colleges and universities to possess.

“They sell these all over the world,” Jack said. “They didn’t know if another school had one of these, but we’re one of the only higher ed institutions that are using these.”

The entire system is geared to provide a “hands-on, experiential training for patrol officers, offering experience without risks to people or equipment.” 

At Waynesburg, the equipment is doing just that by offering students an opportunity to get acclimated.

“It’s been great. It’s so different from anything we’ve done,” senior criminal justice student Matt Dougher said. “This is a whole new experience.”

“Not only is it good for us to get the feel of getting in behind the wheel of a police car, but it also helps us to navigate through problems that might come up while you’re driving and different conditions that might arise,” Jack said.

Some of the different scenarios students can encounter is: driving during different times of the day and weather conditions, utilizing different types of vehicles, dealing with real life scenarios and more. Unlike most simulations, this equipment provides a more realistic feel to patrolling. 

“Everything from the mobile digital terminal to the lights and sirens to the air conditioning works on it. It’s really like you’re sitting in a vehicle,” Jack said. “It moves as if you are driving. You have to put the seat belt on or else it would jar you out of the seat if you have an accident.”

There is also an intoxication mode that gives users the feel of what it would be like if they were driving under the influence behind the wheel.

“That’s one we’d like to play with in the future because I think this is not only a great tool to train criminal justice students, but it’s also a great tool for anybody to get on and utilize to learn to drive and multitask,” Jack said.

In the future, Jack hopes that not only criminal justice students can utilize this new equipment, but other students on campus.

Jack and the rest of the department have moved fast to incorporate the new piece of equipment inside the classroom.

“We’re going to be implementing this in a number of classes,” Jack said. “I have had my freshmen in here already. Our upperclassmen have also been in here already.”

Hopes are that the patrol simulator will continue to be implemented more in the near future. 

The Department of Criminal Justice and Social Sciences has set an importance on preparing students for post-graduation by staying up-to-date in getting equipment over the past few years. The program also received a Laser Shot Firearms Training Simulator back in 2018 that has been heavily utilized.

“Today the criminal justice field is evolving every day,” Dougher said. “There’s new issues and there’s new technology so to have our program evolve with that at the same time is awesome.”

The purchase of the simulator totaled over $100,000 and was fully covered by a donor who wished to stay anonymous.

“He was very involved in the installation and the purchase of this,” Jack said. “We’re very fortunate to have a lot of wonderful backers of our criminal justice program.”