Police Laser Village Theme: ‘Go Ahead, Make My Ray’

The training of law enforcement officers in the county will move into the realm of high technology this year if the Orange County Sheriff’s Department gets its way.

Department officials want officers to learn to stay alive in dangerous situations by engaging in laser gunfights on a fake city street designed like a movie set.

The Sheriff’s Department is seeking authorization from the County Board of Supervisors to build what would be called Laser Village near a department firing range in Orange.

Under the proposal that goes before supervisors next week, the $100,000 in materials and equipment needed to build Laser Village would be donated by civic and other groups. The facility would be operated with fees paid by police departments in the county that use it.

The Sheriff’s Department has already received a $40,000 donation to buy 15 pistols and three shotguns that emit laser rays instead of bullets and 25 vests designed to register “hits.”

“In all our training, we’ve always used paper bull’s-eyes and silhouettes to test accuracy and reaction,” Capt. Thomas E. Harrison said. “This is really an innovation.”

Cops-and-robbers games of laser tag, with light-emitting pistols, he said, would allow rookies to learn such things as what it feels like to be suddenly confronted by a gun-wielding suspect, a hostage situation or a robbery in progress, as well as how to avoid shooting innocent bystanders.

Using other people to simulate hostages, crooks, passers-by and others in such situations would be the closest thing to real-life encounters and would help in testing an officer’s reactions without using real bullets, Harrison said.

“It really changes your approach,” Harrison said. “You can feel your reactions.”

If the trainee’s reaction is something other than what was taught in the classroom, trainers can understand better exactly what went wrong and re-emphasize points.

“We take them back to the classroom and retrain them,” Harrison said. “We discuss what should have been done . . . what better action they might have taken.”

Harrison said Laser Village would feature near-life-size buildings that would be painted to look like residences and businesses, such as convenience stores, banks and gas stations. The set would also be used to train special-weapons teams and hostage negotiation teams, as well as dogs trained to sniff out drugs and bombs.

Sheriff’s Department officials said they expect that the project would cost taxpayers nothing.

The money for the about half of the laser guns and vests was donated by the Sheriff’s Advisory Council. Rancho Santiago College, which is affiliated with the Sheriff’s Department, bought the other half for use in conducting classes at the village.

The college would also pay off-duty deputies to be instructional aides or actors in training situations, Harrison said.

The village would augment the department’s existing training center at 1900 W. Katella Ave. in Orange.

Los Angeles County and in San Diego County already have similar facilities, Harrison said.