GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Kent County Sheriff's Office invited members of the media to take part in a scaled-back training scenario on Monday.
A number of FOX 17 staffers and journalists from other West Michigan media outlets were in attendance at the event Monday morning.
The Sheriff's full training staff was on hand to speak about how they think about critical, potentially dangerous incidents, and in turn develop relevant training.
“So, this is a great opportunity for us to just help bring in a group that we work with all the time, our local media, and to provide some perspective and some behind-the-scenes on the training,” Sgt. Eric Brunner said Monday.
"Today specifically, what goes on in our officers' minds when they're applying force?"
Their training staff is responsible for putting the department's roughly 500 staff members through exercises and scenarios modeled after real-world situations.
They held 255 separate training events in 2022.
After a brief lecture in a classroom setting, members of the media were invited to participate in a potential use of force scenario.
Whoever is running the scenario is given limited information, a selection of tools that law enforcement would have access to, and are tasked with handling the situation in front of them in the safest manner possible.
