ALEXANDRIA, VA - The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) has purchased and installed six new PatrolSim driver training simulators to support its Land Management Police Training Program, according to L-3 MPRI.

This brings the total number of MPRI simulators purchased by FLETC to 61 in the past four years.

The curriculum for the Land Management Police Training Program, which includes trainees from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, combines four hours of simulator-based training with classroom and field exercises. Driving skills practiced via simulator include pursuits, defensive driving, day and nighttime emergency response, and skid control. Approximately 150 students will be trained on the new simulators in Artesia this year. FLETC has purchased PatrolSims from MPRI every year since 2006, and other FLETC locations utilizing them include Glynco, Ga., and Cheltenham, Md.

"By utilizing the PatrolSim, FLETC enables students to practice critical, high-risk tasks that are too dangerous or costly to be conducted frequently in actual vehicles," said Dennis Corrigan, general manager of MPRI's Training Systems Group.

Each PatrolSim features the actual seat and steering console of a patrol vehicle surrounded by a three-channel plasma display that provides a 180-degree view of driving environments. State-of-the-art software delivers sharp, lifelike images, and force-loaded steering provides real-time feedback to augment muscle memory in situations such as tire blowouts or PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuvers.

The PatrolSim also features the Instructor Operating Station, which allows instructors to track, record and play back the movements of multiple networked simulators, optimizing the practice of coordinated efforts. By utilizing MPRI simulators FLETC is able to reduce the frequency and severity of vehicle-related accidents and overall training-related cost, according to MPRI.