Home Team commanders use multiplayer game-like simulation to train handling of emergencies

SINGAPORE — At first glance, it may resemble a gaming centre, with up to 20 people frantically clicking, some shouting instructions to others, as they collaborate to take out aggressors or maintain order in the scenario playing out across their screens.

But the new Home Team simulation centre, which works like a multiplayer role-playing game, was designed as a mock command centre to help train commanders in making split-second decisions under a variety of emergency and crisis scenarios.

Launched by Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Monday (May 21), the system is the centrepiece at the Home Team Simulation Centre located at the Home Team Academy, and will be used to coordinate exercises across different agencies.

The new simulation system, part of a wider push by the Home Team to enhance training for officers using technology such as augmented reality, was designed by game developer Coventry Enterprises Singapore.

It allows controllers to simulate some 15 different scenarios — such as car explosions, gunman attacks and other extensive public order crises — to test Home Team commanders' aptitude in managing various security incidents, familiarity with contingency plans, and their efficacy when working under stress.

To increase realism of these exercises, the scenarios are set in various parts of Singapore, like along Orchard Road, Marina Bay Sands, Little India, and a housing estate in Bishan.

In the past, Home Team commanders were trained to manage such incidents through table-top exercises, which could accommodate just a small group of officers at each time, or ground deployments, which were typically time- and manpower-intensive. These conventional exercises were also limited in the scope of scenarios they could simulate.

In contrast, the new simulation system allows for a larger variety of command post exercises to be conducted with some degree of realism. By shaving the manpower and logistical resources needed, the simulator also gives officers have more training opportunities.

Game-type simulations have been used by military and law enforcement agencies all over the world for some time now.

In the United States, for instance, games have been created for over a decade to train squad leaders in various tactics of urban warfare. The Korean National Fire Service Academy launched a disaster management simulator training centre in 2007, in a north-eastern city in South Korea, to train fire service officers in fighting a variety of fires.

Singapore's own military has also been using simulated war games for training since the early 2000s.

When asked why the Home Team is introducing such a system only now, the Home Team Academy told TODAY it has been using tactical simulators for training "over the years". But unlike conventional simulators, the new simulation system is "far more sophisticated".

"It allows for command and control to be exercised, and for joint exercises across Home Team departments, beyond tactical responses," said the academy's spokesperson.

Apart from the simulation system, the police is looking to the use of augmented reality to hone investigation skills. One device it is exploring with ST Engineering uses mixed reality smart glasses developed by Microsoft to train and assess officers in basic investigation skills, such as collecting DNA samples and taking relevant pictures at a crime scene.

By integrating virtual reality and the real world, the device allows trainees to still perform physical procedures in their investigations, such as sketching or taking notes on paper.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is also piloting a similar tool, using fully immersive virtual reality, to train its responders in post-fire investigations.

In addition, the SCDF is also trying out physical training harnesses that uses electric impulses to help SCDF officers to build their strength and conditioning more efficiently. Electrical muscle stimulation is a method of eliciting muscle activity through applied electrical current and is used by some high performance athletes.

Speaking at the Home Team's Workplan Seminar on Monday, Mr Shanmugam underscored the importance of the Home Team Academy in driving a learning culture to prepare law enforcers for current and new challenges.

The academy will continue to focus on developing strong leaders, providing more learning opportunities to trainers, and driving Home Team-wide technologies to promote "learning anytime, anywhere, preferably on-the-go", said the minister.