Link between sheriff, troubled officer had tragic start | The Daily Gazette
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He was terminated by the man who helped convict his birth father’s killer decades ago.
Coppola, a former officer with the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Department, was accused by Colonie police of driving under the influence of alcohol on April 26.
On May 3, the lawyer for the 26-year-old Coppola of Rotterdam pleaded not guilty on Coppola’s behalf in Colonie Town Court.
Authorities allege Coppola drove on a curb and nearly hit a utility pole with his car while more than twice the legal limit for drunkenness. His blood alcohol content was .2% well over the legal limit in New York state of .08%. He told police he was driving home after he had consumed a couple of beers at a bar in Albany.
Schenectady PD partnering with local company Catapult Games on virtual reality de-escalation training | The Daily Gazette
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The last game he played? One of Nintendo’s “Zelda” games years ago with his now-grown kids.
However, in the ongoing process of refining training procedures for his officers to interact with the public, Clifford is more than happy to embrace emerging technologies.
So, Tuesday morning at Urban Co-Works, Clifford pulled on a virtual reality headset and stepped into a simulation of a traffic stop where Clifford’s pixelated partner pulled a gun on a subject and worked through a series of options to de-escalate the situation.