While the video game has been, and probably will be for years to come, synonymous with entertainment, the time spent in front of the screen can transcend from recreation to training. Pulling from the situational awareness an officer's already learned from classroom lectures and real-life exercises, computer-based training can become a training 'result' instead of wasted hours saving a pink-dressed damsel in distress.

     The switch is in how the player, officer or otherwise, handles the simulation. The "game" or "entertainment" aspect is removed once the player begins to take the scenario seriously, beginning to sympathize or care about the virtual situation at hand.

     It is possible for a video game to teach usable skills when you consider that according to national news sources, 28-year-old gamer, Paxton Galvanek, rescued two victims from an overturned SUV, on the shoulder of a North Carolina interstate, using skills he had gained by playing the video game, America's Army. His character choice for game play: the medic class. While his wasn't formal training, the concepts Galvanek learned while sitting at his computer seemed real enough to the two individuals he rescued.

     In Galvanek's case, he chose America's Army for its entertainment value — he and countless others. In 2007, video game sales generated a monstrous $17.94 billion. In comparison, United States movie ticket sales added up to $9.7 billion. Judging from those dollar amounts, this technology is no longer a "future-tech" concept, it is here today, and it isn't going away anytime soon.

     Physical training is what officers typically encounter in their training experience. They strengthen their foundational skills by practicing the physical actions required by their jobs, such as pulling the trigger of their duty gun or kicking down a door. Each action has its own skill set with each set reinforcing itself upon correct completion.

     While the goal may be to instill the correct foundational skills as second nature, officers are also inundated with decision making — the cognitive aspect of their training. Officers must react to a situation and make critical decisions in a split second, while performing practiced physical foundational skills. The decisions they make can mean the difference between the innocent victim and the injured partner.