WARSAW, Poland (AP) —A state-of-the-art simulator will be used to help train Polish police to face crisis situations like rowdy football crowds during next year's European Championship.
The authors made a presentation of the system on Tuesday. Officers isolated from one another and at a number of computer terminals communicated and reacted to a massive crisis situation that they saw on their screens in three-dimensional game graphics.
This simulated command center will help officers prepare to contain rowdy crowds, aggressive demonstrations, manage large scale terrorist threats and organize searches and chases, all in cooperation with medical and other security services.
"The scenarios also provide for the situation getting out of control, despite police measures being used," said Anna Brzozowska, head of the PZL Aerospace Industries in Warsaw that built the system.
Police Academy spokeswoman Beata Bekulard said the training will open in the northern town of Szczytno in February and will prepare officers for the football tournament that Poland will co-host with Ukraine in June.
The opening match will be played at the new National Stadium in Warsaw, and that location is among those used in the training system.
Mindful of possible disturbance from the hundreds of thousands of Polish and foreign fans expected at the championship, the Justice Ministry is working to pass new legislation that would significantly raise fines for rowdy or vulgar fans and would give police and security forces more leeway in controlling them. Fines could go into the equivalent of hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.
Also, the ticket distribution system is to ensure that fans of various competing teams are mixed together, rather then sit in large groups, to avoid the rise of mutual aggression.
