In Training

By Frank Tremayne

Molly turned into the parking space marked For Visitors in Simply’s car park. The journey from Baxford to Wimbledon had been relatively smooth. She had picked up Kanha at the arranged time and then drove up through South London.

Molly and Kanha were attending a one day course with Simply. They were both Police Community Support Officers based in Baxford, Surrey, England and had been asked to be guinea pigs for a novel training method for PCSOs.

‘Welcome’ said Frank. He was course leader.

‘Thank you for attending today’s course. First of all I would like to give you information about Simply and what you can expect. Simply is a firm which specialises in Virtual Reality training. Simply was founded 10 years ago. This is our main base but Simply has numerous outlets through out the country. We are the largest company in Virtual Reality training mainly for large organisations. Simply the best. Some of our biggest clients include the National Health Service, the Metropolitan Police force, Kent Fire Service and Barclays Bank.’

‘What you can expect on today’s course. Both of you will be going on a shared journey into a realistic VR simulation. Hence the name of the company. I would like to calm any fears you may have. No one has experienced any bad effects or side effects on any of Simply’s courses and the majority of attendees have reported it was a worthwhile and enjoyable experience.’

After my preamble we will go into the room next door where the simulation will take place. You will be logged into a neural mind VR machine and you will experience a realistic PCSO situation and you will be expected to deal with it. It is probably a situation that you have dealt with as PCSOs.’

‘The scenario is as follows. You will experience being on patrol in Baxford Town Centre and you will receive a call that there are three drunken men in the town centre creating a disturbance. You will be expected to go to the incident and attempt to resolve it. It’s as Simple as that. Old joke !’

‘In the simulation the drunken men will be verbally abusive. I can assure you that you will not, and I emphasise not, experience physical violence.’

Kanha : ‘ How long will we be in the simulation ?’

Frank: ‘Good question. In the simulation it will feel like one hour. In real time though, it will take four hours.’

Molly : ‘Are we monitored for physical reactions we may have in the simulation ?’

Frank: ‘Again good question. Yes. Both of you will be monitored. A series of wires will be attached to your brains and bodies, and myself and my colleague Melody who is a trained nurse keeps an eye on your physical responses to the simulated incident. Again I reiterate Simply has never known a negative reaction from one of our simulations.’

Frank, Molly and Kanha then moved into the room next door. Melody looked up from behind a desk.

Melody : ‘Good morning. I’m Melody and I am here to monitor your physical well being during the simulation.’

The office was a mix of an office and a medical room that you may found in a hospital. Frank asked Molly and Kanha to change out of their clothes into medical gowns that were hanging up in cubicles.

Molly and Kanha were requested to lay down on medical couches in the middle of the room. Melody then moved a trolley from the back of the office, which had what looked like a variety of hi tech machines, between the two couches. Melody handed both Molly and Kanha a set of head phones and were told to put them on and close their eyes. She also attached a couple of monitoring devices to their heart and brow areas.

Molly looked down at her body. She could see she was wearing the PCSO uniform which she normally wore. She glanced sideways and next to her was Kanha, also in his PCSO uniform. They were standing by the entrance to the Baxford County Mall. Molly saw herself reflected in the glass doors. She heard noise and people’s voices. Men and women walked towards her going about their daily lives and to their left a bus pulled up in the road. The traffic drove past. In the distance she could see the HMV shop.

Kanha smiled at her. Her Tetra two way radio bleeped.

Baxford Police Station : ‘Hello Molly. We have had two calls reporting a disturbance in the precinct with the fountains next to the Metro Bank in the centre of Baxford. There are three drunken men playing loud music and swearing at members of the public. Two of the men are white and the other is Asian. Could Kanha and yourself assess the situation and report back.’

Molly replied that they were on their way. She told Kanha the details of the incident and they both started walking quickly towards the centre of Baxford. They passed the busy shops full of customers along the way and as they approached the precinct they could hear music. Bob Marley’s ‘Jamming’ was blasting out.

About 100 yards away, three men sitting on a bench could be seen. They were shouting very loudly ‘Jamming’ along to the music. Even from this distance it was clear they were all off their heads.

Kanha : ‘How are we going to deal with this one ?’

Molly : ‘Caution is the best approach !’

They approached the men slowly.

Kanha : ‘ Having a good afternoon, gentlemen ?’

The white man in the middle looked up at Molly and Kanha with disdain and spat on the concrete.

1st Man : ‘Fuck Off’

The man to his left laughed and continued singing Jamming. They were playing Jamming on repeat.

Molly : ‘That’s not a nice thing to say’

1st Man : ‘Fuck Off. You’re not real cops. Piss off’

2nd Man : ‘That’s right. You’re not proper police. Leave us alone’

Molly bent down and turned off the music machine. The first man bent down and turned it back on again. Jamming blasted out. At this, the Asian man who was clearly oblivious to what was going on around him vomited.

Molly turned to Kanha : ‘That’s it. Do you think it’s wise to arrest them ? I’m worried how they will react’

Kanha : ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea’

Molly : ‘OK. I’ll ask for back up’

Molly contacted Baxford Police Station and requested back up. Five minutes later three police cars pulled up and out got four policemen and two policewomen. Molly and Kanha walked over and explained the situation.

Molly started hearing an alarm which got progressively louder and louder.

Molly opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling and thought ‘OMFG’. She glanced to her left and looked at Kanha on the medical couch. He looked cute in his medical gown she thought.

Kanha was staring at the ceiling and mouthed very slowly ‘WTF’.

Frank : ‘Welcome back. It’s quite a ride isn’t it ?’

Over the next hour, Molly and Kanha readjusted with coffee and biscuits. Melody did a few physical checks and they were both fine. They talked though the simulation with Frank and Melody. Frank told them that he and Melody were able to see the incident on a screen linked to their neural pathways. Frank explained before he founded Simply, he had been a Met Police officer and remarked from a policing view point he was pleased and proud the way Molly and Kanha had handled the incident. He said they made the right call asking for back up rather than attempting to arrest the men.

In a few days he would send them a digitised file which showed the simulation from a third party observer pespective. And it would also be sent to the PCSO dept at Baxford.

The journey back from Wimbledon to Baxford took an hour and a half. The traffic through South London was heavy and the rain didn’t help much. Molly dropped Kanha at his home and she drove back to her one bedroom flat where she lived alone.

She fed her cat, Grampy who was pleased to see her. She wondered about supper and thought maybe I’ll have a lie down first. She lay down on the bed and mentally reviewed the day. She heard voices from outside and next door, she heard her neighbour Colin turn the key in the latch to his flat. Molly looked down at her body and then at her wardrobe and the light and her carpet. The man in the flat above started playing ‘Jamming’. She had a wild thought.