Shoot or Be Killed

A former Arizona police officer, who killed six people during his 12-year career before it ended after the latest shooting, is now selling firearm training simulators that jolt people who hesitate to shoot.

James Peters, former police officer with the Scottsdale PD, applied for “accidental disability retirement” in 2012 after he shot a 50-year-old man in the head with a rifle. The deceased, John Loxas, who was holding his baby grandson in his arms at that moment, had a record of threatening neighbors with firearms.

“The trainee knows they could experience pain during training, so they take the training far more seriously, leading to more effective training. In addition, the extra stress and pressure during training helps better prepare the trainee for a real life or death situation where a mistake could have dire consequences,” it says in a press release.

The report however is highly critical of the approach, arguing that it basically encourages people to shoot first and ask questions later.

“VirTra’s pain compliance training operates on the theory that officers who hesitate to take action, die,” it said. “The pain conditioning kicks in when the officer fails to react quickly enough, with the goal of reinforcing training. In essence, it recreates being shot, an outcome that VirTra’s officer-safety-first-and-foremost training strongly implies is the losing outcome.”

VirTra Systems says it supplies its products to some 200 police and military organizations around the world. V-300s may cost up to $300,000 apiece.

Reprinted from Russia Today.