Officers with Florida Highway Patrol and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office face different scenarios every day and they go through yearly training to prepare for situations that could turn deadly.
Some of those training drills are done at Battalion Airsoft Arena, a facility in Jacksonville that’s open to the public.
In a moment, everything could change.
“The decision they make in a split second will be critiqued for years," Master Sgt. Dylan Bryan with FHP said.
And officers train year-round to be prepared to make that life-altering decision.
"Any type of training like this is equivalent to real-life situations," Bryan said.
Officers with FHP headed into Battalion Airsoft Arena and traded in their weapons for airsoft guns for scenario training.
"It's a closed environment. That way we can do it outside of the public view," Bryan said.
Bryan said the moving obstacles mean each training session is different.
"When our officers respond to an incident we have no idea what we're going to or how things will be laid out," Bryan said.
The weapons they practice with mirror the weapons used out in the field except colored soap pellets spray out instead of metal bullets.
"That way it's still muscle memory and second hand nature for the officer," Bryan said.
With weapons in hand, officers repeated different drills and practiced to take down a suspect.
"Once we go out to the real world we can flip things over and flip that switch to the live ammunition and everything is matched then," Bryan said.
Sirens sounded in the parking lot as officers were took their K-9, Ollie, through a traffic stop drill.
"It's one of the most dangerous aspects of law enforcement," Bryan said.
Ollie paced in the backseat waiting for his command. Moments later the door opened, and he sprinted and attacked.
"It's important to give the dog an as realistic situation as possible," Bryan said.
Whether it’s an officer on two feet or four, Bryan said training at the facility helps to bridge the gap between members of the community and law enforcement officers.
"The regular public sees you and says, 'Hey that's a police officer, but he's just like me. He does the same things I do.' It humanizes the badge, if you will," Bryan said.