SFPD use-of-force training simulates dangers officers encounter

Sgt. Steven Pomatto (left) points a gun while simulating a scenario during a demonstration to the media on how police officers are trained to use force in San Francisco on Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. Sgt. Steven Pomatto (left) points a gun while simulating a scenario during a demonstration to the media on how police officers are trained to use force in San Francisco on Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 50 Caption Close SFPD use-of-force training simulates dangers officers encounter 1 / 50 Back to Gallery

There was a distraught waitress who slashed a co-worker with a foot-long kitchen knife. There was a suicidal man armed with a revolver on his porch. There was a raging husband who had just pummeled his wife to a pulp.

They were all situations that required police to intervene — real-life simulations used to prepare police cadets for use-of-force scenarios that often change in a flash.

And had they been real-deal encounters, several of the handful of reporters participating in the training Monday at the San Francisco Police Academy in the city’s Diamond Heights neighborhood would likely be dead (the knife-wielding waitress charged, and the suicidal man turned his gun on a reporter and fired).

The event was a once-a-year occasion for members of the media to go through the same training police use to prepare for the most intense scenarios officers may face in the field.

Standing in front of a wall-sized screen, the trainee was given a mock handgun, a baton and a can of pepper spray that can be used, or holstered, as the scene plays out.

Monday’s training offered a window into the challenges many officers face when responding to calls around San Francisco and comes as the department has shifted its use-of-force tactics amid recent controversial police killings.

“This is as close as we’re going to get to real life,” said San Francisco Police Department Cmdr. Peter Walsh. “It shows ... how fast and how quick things can change for good or bad.”

Many use-of-force encounters play out as officers engage people in crisis. Since 2010, more than half of people shot and killed by officers had histories of mental health issues.

In the first eight months of this year, police have responded to more than 11,000 calls involving mentally disturbed people, some 200 calls about a mentally disturbed person with a weapon, and nearly 3,000 calls requiring mental health detentions, according to police records.

With the proper training, the Police Department hopes its officers will bring such situations to nonlethal endings. The most effective tool, police said, is often not a weapon.

“We want to de-escalate as oppose to escalating the situation,” said Sgt. Steven Pomatto, who trains cadets in use of force at the academy. “It means more effectively listening to what we have in front of us as opposed to just pouncing.”

The emphasis on using minimal force comes as the department adopts polices recommended by the Department of Justice following several controversial fatal police shootings, including the 2015 killing in the Bayview of Mario Woods, who was shot by five police officers when he ignored commands to put down a knife.

In one of Monday’s scenarios, police showed that a suspect who attacks may be just as likely to surrender. The knife-wielding waitress, for example, dropped her weapon after being talked down mid-crisis.

“We’ve changed the paradigm of the training scenario,” Pomatto said. “We want to communicate and actively listen and say, ‘How can I help you? I’m here to help you.’”

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky