**Dubai Police Department

**Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Demographic shifts in the Dubai Police Department were the impetus for an overhaul in training delivery. As the police force gained younger officers, the learning team recognized that delivering critical training only through a traditional classroom method was not the best way to serve the digital natives on the force who had grown up with technology and video games.

The mandate was to create a suite of robust training programs using video and gamification for the organization’s four strategic goals and across 10 different security and awareness topics. The programs serve most of Dubai Police’s 20 different departments, 10 police stations, and more than seven other organizations.

Cutting-edge video game technology was used to create virtual incidents ranging from crime scenes to traffic accidents to hostage scenarios that require SWAT planning and intervention. The process is engaging and mimics real life situations, which allows trainees to learn by doing and practice skills in a safe, practical environment.

Adoption of this new training regimen has been positive and borne good results. In addition to the immediate feedback that the video game scenarios provide, active discovery and the development of new kinds of comprehension are benefits for the trainees. Performance has also improved. As an example, crime scene investigators who trained using the virtual environments performed better in real cases than those who did not train with the virtual methods by an average of 57 percent.

ATD Excellence in Practice Awards are Presented to practices that have demonstrated clear and measurable results of achieving organizational goals, meet a demonstrated need, have appropriate design values, and are clearly aligned with other performance improvement initiatives. These practices have long-term, sustained results. Read about past Excellence in Practice winners by visiting the Winners Archive.