New game designed to train coppers

By Ellie Gibson Published 19 May, 2008

Will teach them when to shoot.

A new game has been designed to teach trigger-happy po-po, or "firearms officers" as it's more likely to say on their business cards, about shooting.

Titled Shoot/NoShoot, it's the result of work by researchers at Abertay University, and appears to be played using a light gun. As reported by the BBC, the player's character approaches a man looking in a car boot. When the man turns round it's up to the player to decide whether to hold fire, let off a warning shot or pop a cap in his face.

According to PhD student Paul Robertson, Shoot/NoShoot isn't the type of game shooter fans are used to - it's much more realistic, and it's all about decision making.

"A lot of games become very 'arcadey', it's all big and when you shoot at people it takes eight shots to take them down, and everything explodes," he said. "This is more realistic, a single shot will take someone down."

It sounds good all the same. Characters have proper AI and will respond to voice commands. Plus, said lecturer Dr James Bown, like a sex macine, "The animation is very important, that we get as realistic as possible movements associated with the individual turning round because that's where the signals are going to be as to whether to shoot or not."

So how long before Taggart and friends actually start training with the game? Well, said the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, it'll have to be tested by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch before they can come to any kind of a decision. Oh Well, Never Mind.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Waffleaber #1 4 years ago

    Sounds a bit like the original SWAT games where you were reprimanded for killing too many bad guys.

    In the loosest possible "not everybody has to die" sense of course.

  • PearOfAnguish #2 4 years ago

    Is there a special bonus round where you have to kill as many Brazilian electricians as possible within a time limit?

    I find it worrying that police would need a game to help them learn when to shoot someone.

  • Razz #3 4 years ago

    This is terrifying.

    Teach pilots how to fly with a flight simulator, fine.

    Teach police how to shoot criminals with a VG, not fine.

    I'm a 6'7" dark skinned male working in next to Houses of Parliament, I'm going to be fucking scared for my life.

  • thedaveeyres #4 4 years ago

    Cheese it! It's the rozzers!

  • monkie_king #5 4 years ago

    They should also make a version for potential Metropolitan Police Commissionaires, entitled Resign/NoResign, where you have to decide whether or not to take any responsibility for a series of errors culminating in the brutal execution-style killing of a completely innocent man, and the subsequent attempt to smear the deceased's reputation in the media to make it seem that shooting him seven times in the head wasn't such a terrible thing to do. (PROTIP: worm your way out of any admitting any responsibility by repeatedly pressing X to unlock the "Huge Pension Secured" achievement).

  • Tiagoaf #6 4 years ago

    It was a good idea!! I think the police can learn so much with videogames...

  • firefly #7 4 years ago

    @monkie_king

    Nice idea. If that works out they might want to consider some sort of invade/not invade game where you have to figure out if an enemy nation actually has weapons of mass destruction or just lots of oil.

  • skillian #8 4 years ago

    The British Police are the worst marksmen in the world. I read a stat somewhere a few years ago that Brit cops kill more innocent people than american cops, which is quite shocking (I will post the article if I can find it again). Aparrently its because US cops are trained to wound but ours are trained to kill.

    That just can't be true, surely. When police shot the crazy lawyer in West London, that was the first person (innocent or otherwise) Met Officers had killed in 3 years (since De Menezes). US cops shoot at people every day.

  • Rirekon #9 4 years ago

    This is nothing new, I believe there have been simulators to train for situations like this for years. If it's similar to the simulators I've seen before then it gives the trainee a few seconds to spot and recognise threats posed (or not) by the suspect. Basically an advanced version of pop-up terrorist/innocent targets.
    It is not used to train marksmanship, just situational awareness and decision making.

  • dirtysteve #10 4 years ago

    Only one bullet to take anyone down? seems a bit rose-tinted. I reckon that's as unrealistic a generalisation as every suspect needing 8 shots. I know that's not the point of the simulation (not game, be honest EG), but it would be an interesting view of how coppers react once opening fire. Do they re-evaluate a situation once a suspect is hit, but still moving, or is the instinct/training ' to put them down'. This would account for some tragedies.

  • Lexx87 #11 4 years ago

    :) firefly

  • dk_rare #12 4 years ago

    We tried realistic shooters, it was called the old Rainbow Six games, but people didn't like them so they changed it to one of those go hide in the corner for a few seconds while your plasma shield (oops, I mean health bar) refills.

    And people like explosions, it is instant gratification, something that the target audience of shooter games can't seem to get enough of.

  • Wyrm #13 4 years ago

    HEADSHOT!

  • Dynamize #14 4 years ago

    " Physiologically, no caliber or bullet is certain to incapacitate any individual unless the brain is hit. Psychologically, some individuals can be incapacitated by minor or small caliber wounds [The causative factors are most likely psychological in origin. Thousands of books, movies and television shows have educated the general population that when shot, one is supposed to fall down.]
    Those individuals who are stimulated by fear, adrenaline, drugs, alcohol, and/or sheer will and survival determination may not be incapacitated even if mortally wounded.

    The will to survive and to fight despite horrific damage to the body is commonplace on the battlefield, and on the street. Barring a hit to the brain, the only way to force incapacitation is to cause sufficient blood loss that the subject can no longer function, and that takes time. Even if the heart is instantly destroyed, there is sufficient oxygen in the brain to support full and complete voluntary action for 10-15 seconds."

    US Department of Justice paper on Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness says Paul Robertson is wrong.

  • PearOfAnguish #15 4 years ago

    "The British Police are the worst marksmen in the world. I read a stat somewhere a few years ago that Brit cops kill more innocent people than american cops, which is quite shocking (I will post the article if I can find it again)."

    As skillian pointed out, that lawyer was the first person killed by SO19 in three years.

    "Aparrently its because US cops are trained to wound but ours are trained to kill."

    If you aim a gun at someone you do it with the intention of killing them. I can't believe the American police are taught to aim for the legs just in case they kill the lunatic who is threatening the safety of them or a member of the public. There is no such thing as 'shoot to wound'.

  • mcmothercruncher #16 4 years ago

    ... but..but... everyone knows video games make you violent don't they?

  • Gradius #17 4 years ago

    My mate's a rozza and he is shit at R6 Vegas. This is proof that British rozzas should not be armed!

    FACT!

  • mcmothercruncher #18 4 years ago

    To be fair though, R6 doesn't have many speed cameras in it.

  • Foregone Reality #19 4 years ago

    PearofAnguish is correct. There is no such thing as 'shoot to wound'.

    You might have seen movies where a gun is shot out of someone's hand or a bullet lands in someone's leg with pure intention from the person who fired the shot; but in the real world it's all about split second timing and decision making. If that person is a threat to either the safety of the officer(s) or any civilians in the immediate area then that officers sole intention when firing that gun is to put that person down. You don't take chances when it comes to life.

    I wish my old Rainbox Six game worked on XP/Vista. Shame.

  • Nookyalar #20 4 years ago

    Wonder if there will be a health-and-safety aspect. This will be difficult to program, as even in real life, it's difficult to work out whether blowing someone's head to bits compromises health and safety.

  • HermitArcader #21 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Bonus #22 4 years ago

    This was on the news on Radio Tay today.

    Apparently it's been made on the Wii and will have situations such as a man is taking something out of a car boot and the officer has to decide whether the table leg, mobile phone or other item he has in his hand was a gun.

    Doesn't sound all that bad for that. It's not a tool designed for accuracy but rather to help police officers decide if they should open fire or not.

  • BeachGaara #23 4 years ago

    Bloody MurderSims!

  • RazorObsession #24 4 years ago

    my mate works for the pigs, and he reliably informs me that pretty much any police force marksman could beat any miltary force sniper due to the narrow training regimes. military sniper has to learn how to make a fire with sticks, read a map, conceal his poop, polish his boots, march in parades etc. whereas police snipers only have to shoot at stuff all day long. that extra trigger time counts apparently.

  • Gradius #25 4 years ago

    "he reliably informs me that pretty much any police force marksman could beat any miltary force sniper"

    Yeah, but the rozza's speak shit. My rozz mate took the "advanced driving course" so he would be allowed to man a squad car, he went on and on about how this makes him a true master behind the wheel the likes of which a normal driver could never even imagine.... He hit a shopping trolley the last time he went to ASDA. Needless to say, I don't hold much faith in the boasting words of a rozza.

  • Fab4 #26 4 years ago

    When is the game coming out that trains them not to be sarky bastards?

  • kangarootoo #27 4 years ago

    @evilfoxhound

    I'd be very interested to see that article, as it sounds extremely suspect to me.

    The main reason is your reference to "US cops are trained to wound but ours are trained to kill". There is simply no such thing as "shooting to wound" and neither the US or UK police are trained that way (even if sometimes they say they are).

    They are trained to shoot to hit. What actually happens after a bullet strikes a person is extremely random. Even a single bullet does a shit load of damage and all this shoot to wound rubbish only happens in Hollywood.

    Any member of law enforcement that shoots does so on the assumption that the person shot will likely die. And that is a good thing, as it means weapons are only fired (supposedly) as a last resort. To entertain the idea that you can shoot to disable an attacker is to entertain the idea that you can take the action of shooting less seriously.

  • kangarootoo #28 4 years ago

    @JSPOOLE

    Did you have a point to make?

    @RazorObsession

    Cops in armed response departments don't just learn to shoot stuff all day you know. They have to learn all the other cop stuff, just like a soldier has to learn all the other soldiery things. Your mate is talking rubbish to try and sound cool.

  • sergeantdisco #29 4 years ago

    So the police will be better at threat assessment eh?

    That'll be useful when they're doing people for going 71 on the motorway.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 10:13

  • OnlyMe #30 4 years ago

    I thought the old Police Quest games portrayed some of the police mentality/theory pretty good. You had to follow police procedure when arresting a man for DUI, for example, and shooting occured very rarely in the game. I think, in PQ1 you only shot your gun once. I can only think of two instances in PQ2 (unless you consider the target practice as well), and once or twice in PQ3.

    I'd love a new game that really simulates being a cop, but not like SWAT, where you're more or less commanding a whole team. I prefer being one single entity.

  • kangarootoo #31 4 years ago

    @JSPOOLE

    Link me to some proof that arming all cops reduces crime and I'll gladly read it.

    The apparently increasing crime levels in the UK are a joke, on that we agree*. I think we just disagree on how to solve the problem.

    You know, just once I would like to have a proper adult discussion with you about it instead of you just calling everyone a liberal pussy. Give it a go, just for fun, to show you can.

    *I say apparently, because I believe violent crime is declining. I have though noticed a changing balance in the way news is reported in this country. Misery sells, so that is what we get sold. That is perhaps another discussion, which is not to say we can't have that discussion here too.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 11:46

  • Ryze #32 4 years ago

    I had no idea there was a "stop pulling over every ni99a's car" simulator!

  • Codger81 #33 4 years ago

    Just to add to what's been said already. Police officers are usually taught to unload their entire magazine into a suspect unless it's absolutely clear they're incapcitated.

    There's been several cases of suspects in the US being hit with 50 plus 9mm full metal jacket rounds (as not all police officers will be carrying hollow points) and still able to resist. They are fatally wounded, but not immediately incapacitated.