(re: PQ and real police training) Micha:
I do remember that there WERE police departments around the country that used our SWAT product as part of their training, but have no recollection as to which ones.
We worked hard to ensure that everything in the product was accurate. Daryl Gates primary contribution was his contacts inside LAPD. His name opened doors everywhere. Tammy Dargan, who lead the project, spent a considerable amount of time working with real SWAT officers from the LAPD.
There’s a careful balance you need to walk between making a game accurate, and making it fun. Tammy did an excellent job of knowing where to draw this line.
After Sierra was sold, one of the stranger moves that the new owners made was to drop Daryl Gates’ name, and association with the SWAT product. My understanding, which I haven’t confirmed, is that he doesn’t appear on the third SWAT game. I have no idea why… His background was controversial to some people, but no one can argue that he doesn’t know his stuff. I doubt that there will ever again be a law enforcement simulation produced which has the direct involvement of someone of Daryl Gates stature. Love him, or hate him, it cannot be denied that he ran one of the largest police departments in the country, and is a historic individual.
-Ken W
PS Here’s a bit of Daryl Gates trivia… I’ve forgotten the details of this story, so I’ll just tell it as I remember it, and hope I get it right. During the OJ Simpson trial, we were preparing one of the SWAT games. We wanted a SWAT officer for an interview on the CD, and the Chief recommended we hire an officer who at the time was unknown: Mark Fuhrman. My memory is that Mark did record some video that appears, or was going to appear, on the SWAT CD. When suddenly Mark’s name turned up in connection with the OJ trial, I remember calling the Chief to ask whether or not we had to worry that any skeletons might surface in Mark Fuhrman’s closet. The Chief assured me that Fuhrman was a stand-up guy, and that OJ was the bad guy, not Mark Fuhrman. Later, as we now know, Mark Fuhrman was not able to escape negative publicity, and I remember feeling somewhat betrayed. Now that the trial is over, it seems that Mark Fuhrman has gone on to a successful writing career, and Mr. Simpson, has not fared as well.
