ThinBlueOnline.com Case Study

CASE STUDY

Chief Neil Gang of the Pinole (CA) Police Department related this story to us: Recently, a rookie patrol team completed a training session using the ThinBlueOnLine system. The weekly training scenario was a responding officer who speaks with an armed man who is angry and was threatening to harm himself and employees of a business. Going through the scenario, the patrol team felt that the process and steps of the virtual officer’s actions were appropriate and provided a great example of the use of de-escalation skills. One week later, the same rookie officers responded to virtually the same call as the scenario. A man armed with a knife was distraught and threatening his fellow employees and himself while sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot of his workplace. A Pinole PD Sergeant stated, “I was not sure exactly what to expect and planned on playing a larger role in the handling of this incident, due to the young officers’ lack of experience in dealing with these types of situations.” The sergeant went on to say, “I was impressed when I observed our officers utilizing techniques and even verbiage directly from the ThinBlueOnLine training scenario that was covered a week prior during our briefing.” In this situation, the officers required very little input from their sergeant and were able to successfully de-escalate the situation, which resulted in a positive resolution. After approximately an hour and a half of dialogue with the distraught subject, he ultimately surrendered his weapon and cooperated with the officers. After the subject was taken into custody and placed into an ambulance for a mental health evaluation, he thanked the officers for making him feel comfortable enough to have a conversation with them and that he could trust them. This is an example of just how valuable ThinBlueOnLine de-escalation training software can be for your officers, police department, and ultimately your community. 

“ThinBlueOnLine is an important component with assisting our people understand that de-escalation is a skill built through practice, not just a class they attend. We have already experienced proven success with this e-learning program. Hours after our officers conducted one of their online training scenarios, they faced the similar situation in real life, a man with a knife threatening to kill himself. The team was made up of rookie officers and they utilized techniques offered in the ThinBlueOnLine training to help bring this situation to a positive and peaceful resolution.” – Chief Gang, Pinole Police Department, CA