Shooting Range with Video Technology for Police Training

Monaco’s police force now have a new, high-tech shooting range, where officers can use live ammunition in interactive scenarios.  Located at the Rainier-III shooting range in Fontvieille, the new training room is dedicated to training scenarios which are projected onto video screens.  

The 4,500 m2 facility is already home to police training rooms which simulate situations where officers may need to use weapons.  This new, special room has a heavy armoured doorand a bullet-proof wall. Scenarios are projected onto a screen made of paper. The scenarios have been adapted to the Principality’s security needs and were all filmed in Monaco. The projected scenes were imagined by Jean-Noël Montgobert, shooting instructor and head of the centre, and his team.  The scenarios are quite varied, with about sixty situations in total. A multitude of possibilities, correlating to the everyday life of an officer in Monaco, are played out for trainees.

One example of a scenario takes place during an identity check at Fontvieille, where a person either shows a passport, or pulls out a weapon. If a weapon is shown, the officer in training must react quickly by drawing and firing their weapon with live ammunition, onto the paper screen. According to Jean-Noël Montgobert, this is not an exercise in which an officer fires a lot of bullets, as the goal is to reproduce life-like conditions andusing too many bullets would be difficult to explain to a prosecutor.

The training technology makes it possible for officers to develop appropriate reactions in strict compliance with the law.  Although Monaco is quite peaceful and dangerous situations almost never happen, unfortunately, the possibility of violence is still there.  If a violent situation does occur, the trained officerwill know what to do.

The dedicated training room, which is also equipped with a suction machine to eliminate powder residues, was inaugurated by Prince Albert II.