Police in Vermont Face Backlash For Staging A Mock Shooting Before High School Students

Without warning, the Burlington Police Department put on a role-playing robbery with fake guns to give the students a lesson about false memories.

The Burlington Police Department in Vermont faced backlash over a controversial surprise mock shooting it staged Wednesday before Burlington High School students.

The demonstration was held for the students in Burlington High School’s Year End Studies program, and it involved a role-playing scenario with police personnel, the police department said in a statement Thursday.

“The ... scenario only involved three department personnel simulating a robbery scenario and was not directed at any students or faculty,” the department said, adding later that fake firearms were used in the demonstration at the police station.

According to a newspaper in Vermont, Seven Days, the scenario was supposed to demonstrate the “unreliability of witness statements.”

The presentation had been cleared by the district’s Year End Studies (YES) program staff in late May, who reportedly agreed to notify parents and students about it in advance, the department said. But students were given no warning and dove for cover, Seven Days reported. Students and parents were reportedly shocked and outraged.