June 25, 2008 - Douglas Theatre grads play role in police training

Douglas Theatre grads play role in police training

A group of Douglas College Theatre grads got to play a unique role in a recent police training exercise. Four actors portrayed eco-terrorists threatening to detonate an explosive, who are confronted by police while on the SkyTrain.

"It was one hell of a set," says actor Nicola Elbro.

Initially, Elbro worried the officers taking part would take offence to her character's behaviour. "We all got pretty verbally abusive. I actually ended up taking it very seriously because I knew it was intended for something bigger than entertainment," says Elbro.

This is precisely why using actors in police training exercises "is a win-win situation," says New Westminster Police Department Staff Sergeant Mike Kelly, organizer of the recent production. Kelly says the department has been working with actors from the Douglas Theatre Program for about six years.

The actors get a unique experience under their belts, including bragging rights that they yelled at a police officer and got away with it. The latest training exercise lasted nearly seven grueling hours.

"Staying in the role of an agitated criminal for seven hours is very tiring because it's so emotionally charged," says Kelly, making the experience more realistic for the actors and police. And this is the goal.

"Using other officers doesn't work as well because they either make it too hard to negotiate by overplaying it or they underplay it and give in too fast," says Kelly.

"You don't criticize your peers. You get honest feedback from actors," he adds.

Kelly provided the actors with character descriptions and a basic script, but he left plenty of room for them to improvise.

"It was great for future source work as I've never held a real gun or had real guns pointed at me. It was also great improv practice," says Elbro.

The recent exercise included emergency response teams from across the Lower Mainland.

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