Blaine Police First to Adopt De-Escalation-Based Firearms Training

SILVER POINT, Tenn., Aug. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Building Shooters Technology LLC (BST) has announced that the Blaine, Minnesota Police Department is the first law enforcement agency in Minnesota to adopt de-escalation- and decision-focused firearms training. Building Shooters is a vendor to the Blaine Police Department, which procured BST's NURO® System.

Blaine's new capabilities are a true first for Minnesota law enforcement. Visual stimulus may now be used throughout range training to drive decision-making and de-escalation. New York State's Division of Criminal Justice Services was the first to implement these paradigm-shifting advances. They were approved by the New York Municipal Police Training Council and are in the process of being implemented across all police academies in New York State.

The impacts of these changes were highlighted during the 2023 annual Public Safety Symposium in Albany. "It cannot be overstated how big of a deal this is," said Justin Smith, a neuroscience Ph.D. whose research focus is decision-making and stress. "Using visual stimulus to control range training develops firearms skills that are different, at a synaptic level, than anything we have seen before in law enforcement."

"These new tools allow us to utilize a visual stimulus to vary the possibilities between a threat or no-threat. This requires officers to observe and make decisions to use the appropriate level of force based on what they see and even change it during exposure. So, while conducting firearms training and engaging a target, the officer needs to continually evaluate and may have to adjust," stated Use of Force and Firearms Instructor, Officer T.J. Brownell. "One of our goals is to always find effective methods to improve our officers' ability to make decisions under stress and adjust in dynamic settings to apply the appropriate level of force. We don't just want our officers to be skilled at using their service weapons. Even more importantly we want them to be skilled thinkers who can see and assess what is going on around them while under stress, especially when they have a gun in their hand."

About Building Shooters
Building Shooters Technology LLC designs and manufactures products focused on decision-making and de-escalation. It also helps restructure training and qualification programs. BST helped New York re-write its police recruit firearms curriculum and consults with numerous other organizations. For more information visit https://buildingshooters.com and follow @bldg_shooters on X.

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Dustin Salomon
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