Vegas Mob Museum lets visitors play cops

Las Vegas: A home invader wearing a ski mask is holding a woman hostage in her bedroom. A police officer immediately starts giving verbal commands, ordering the man to let the woman go, but the intruder refuses and lunges toward the officer with a weapon in hand. The officer then raises her gun and shoots the man.

The officer in this training exercise was a British tourist, and the victim and intruder were on a lifesize video projection inside the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. The visitor was participating in a new hands- on exhibit that arms visitors with a pistol that shoots plastic pellets and puts them in simulated situations similar to those police encounter in real life. The courthouseturnedmuseum in downtown Las Vegas for years has showcased the area’s storied past in organized crime. But visitors now can also learn about the complexity of the decisions that officers face when they encounter situations that may require the use of deadly force.

The museum’s most recent renovation also has added an interactive crime lab and a speakeasy, complete with on- site distilled moonshine. The useofforce exhibit walks visitors through video and live role- playing scenarios, including an encounter in a staged alley with a suspicious person. Museumgoers are issued a police duty belt and a gun that’s as heavy as one police officers carry.