The new Lakeway Police Department building, which became fully operational earlier this year, included in its design a room specifically to house a training simulator.

During the Oct. 21 City Council meeting, officials voted to accept a donation from the Lakeway Police Foundation for a new $42,080 simulator from a company called TI Training Corp.

City documents state included in the cost of the simulator will be continual updates to numerous scenarios that address current real-time situations, and Lakeway police can also create its own simulations to address situations unique to law enforcement in the Lakeway area.

“The generous donation by the Lakeway Police Foundation will provide us the opportunity to improve our use of force decision-making skills, and basic weapons proficiencies,” the document states. “Although physical skill development is important and should be continually honed, it it the decision-making process and the verbal de-escalating training that are critical skills to continually revisit and improve.”

City documents state beyond the donation the fiscal impact involves roughly $200 per year in various supplies pertinent to the operation of the simulator, as well as an optional extended warranty offered at $1,200 per year after the first year. A system upgrade is also recommended after five years that costs $14,000 and includes updating weapons, software and any new tech developed in the interim.

"For me, the most important thing [with owning the training simulator] is decision making," Lakeway police Chief Todd Radford said, adding the simulator will engage his officers on a number of different scenarios. "It's not just a shooting video game."