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Ever wonder how police officers practice their fancy driving maneuvers?
Anyone at the Warsaw Municipal Airport Wednesday got a good idea.
Officers from the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, North Webster Police Department and Winona Lake took part in an Emergency Vehicle Operation Course set up at the airport to give officers an opportunity to polish their skills in a controlled environment.
EVOC is a behind-the-wheel training program designed to simulate emergency driving situations to better equip them for actual situations.
"We are trying to retrain the way people think," said Tim Drury, a supervisor for Bliss McKnight Risk Management Services. "We are trying to prevent drivers from oversteering and overbraking."
Wednesday's installment of the "retraining program" consisted of four sections of obstacle courses.
At the first and only station where officers were allowed to use their brakes while steering, known as the offset lane, drivers navigated around cones arranged to create a path of two curves as the instructor provided guidance.
Then the officers moved on to the serpentine course. In this section of the training, officers weaved around cones set in a snakelike pattern three times at 15, 20 and 25 miles per hour to simulate maneuvering through heavy-traffic situations.
In the third part of the course, controlled braking, officers increased their speed to 30 mph and were required to react when the instructor unexpectedly shouts a command to brake and turn. This exercise stresses the importance of quick reaction times.
The final section of the exercise, the left-right evasive, required officers to control a vehicle while braking from a higher rate of speed.
"We are trying to get them to be confident reacting without using the brakes," said Drury.
Each officer spends approximately 15 minutes driving the course until they are comfortable with their skills. After Wednesday morning's activities, 23 officers had completed the course. The training continued Wednesday afternoon and all day today.
The training is provided by Governmental Insurance Exchange, which is the liability insurance carrier for Kosciusko County. GIE works with Bliss McKnight Risk Management Specialists and local representative Jerry Clevenger to organize the training for local officers.
And better yet, EVOC is provided to the county as part of the insurance program with no additional charge.
"This is part of the insurance company's loss control," said Clevenger. "It offers safety training along with helping officers get credits for their continuing education requirements. It's a win-win situation."
According to Bliss McKnight, EVOC training reduces the chance of injuries or death in an emergency situation, reduces damages to vehicles, decreases claims, reduces time and money spent on lawsuits and protects the public from service interruptions.
ALthough nothing is finalized, the training is expected to become a yearly event in Kosciusko County.
