DA Hoovler and Police Chiefs’ Association to Sponsor Demonstration of Firearms Simulator

August 24, 2020

Educating Community Leaders and the Public About the
Dynamics of Armed Encounters with Police
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler, together with the Police Chiefs’ Association of Orange County, will be sponsoring two demonstrations of the Firearms Training Simulator (FATS) system. The demonstrations, which will be attended by non-police members of the community, will take place in mid-October at the Police Chiefs’ Association Police Academy in New Windsor. The demonstrations will be similar to presentations about the FATS system that District Attorney Hoovler and the Police Chiefs’ Association hosted in January 2015. In addition to the demonstration of the FATS system, the District Attorney and his staff will present some valuable information about the dynamics of street encounters involving police, and about the law related to police-citizen encounters.

The FATS system is a software product designed to create realistic scenarios where law enforcement officers might be called on to use their firearms in street encounters. The software is used primarily as a training tool for police officers, but it can also provide useful insight to the public and community leaders regarding situations where police officers might be forced to draw a weapon in a face-to-face encounter.

“As District Attorney, I have always considered one of my roles to be educating the community about the criminal justice system,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “That function has never been more important than it is today. Given the current national climate surrounding fatal police-citizen encounters, it is vital that people understand the facts and the law behind those incidents. Hopefully, our upcoming presentations using the FATS system and discussing the dynamics and the law of police-citizen encounters will contribute in some measure to that understanding.”
For further information about the demonstrations, please contact Counsel to the District Attorney Robert Conflitti or the District Attorney’s Community Affairs Coordinator Darlene De Jesus at (845) 291-2050, or by email to DACommunityAffairs@orangecountygov.com.