Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset led City Council members into simulated combat Monday night to show the need for funding one of the best firearm training systems in the state.

The police department co-owns the simulator with Northwest Shooter, where the system is located near Columbia Falls. The warranty is set to expire on the VirTra simulator later this year. Northwest Shooter Owner Bob Hughes and the police department need about $22,000 each year to extend the warranty and the lifetime of the system in case of future malfunctions.

That $22,000 is currently not in the city budget.

“It seems very expensive and exorbitant, but it’s a quarter-million dollar system,” Nasset said. “[City council members] are our governing body, so it’s imperative that they understand what we do out here.”

The police department uses the VirTra simulator as its main training system in preparing for combat situations. The stage is surrounded by projectors that launch the user into situations officers can find themselves in on a daily basis.

Council members Rod Kuntz, Tim Kluesner and Jim Atkinson each tried their hand in the training system Monday evening. Armed with a rubber gun, Kluesner was first to enter the simulator. Scenes varied from a robbery at an automated teller machine to a mentally disturbed transient wielding a machete, to a school-shooting scenario involving several different shooters.

“It shows you the reality of what’s out there,” Kluesner said. “For our law enforcement to be able to train with that is huge for the community.”

In 2012, the police department partnered with Hughes to purchase the system. Since then, local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies have used the simulator. Nasset said it’s the best training system in the state and one of three available to the public in the western United States.

“There’s no way you can simulate a real threat,” Nasset said as he introduced the council members to the simulator. “It’s a force on force simulator, but success or failure can be determined by the commands given or not given.”

Kluesner encouraged Hughes and Nasset to invite state legislators and Flathead Valley residents to the simulator in an effort to find funding for the extended warranty.

For more information on the simulator, visit www.northwestshooter.com.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.