Be cautious about succumbing to the pressure to, “Do more training in De-escalation, Implicit Bias and Community Policing.” and whatever other subjects are thrown into the current narrative. Succumbing to the pressure to get it done a.s.a.p. too often results in “tick the box” training. Agencies rush to put everyone through a 2, 4 or 8 hour class so they can tick the box and say, “Everyone has been trained in ________________ (fill in the blank.) There is a big difference between ‘being trained in’ and ‘having attended training’.  While "having attended training" can be a passive experience … [Read more...]

To the Heroic men and women of law enforcement, thank you for your service.  I know you generally deflect when someone uses the terms “Hero” or “Heroic” to describe you so let me explain what I mean by the term Hero. Christopher Reeves said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” You are ordinary men and women who have chosen an extraordinarily difficult profession in which to serve. You do that daily with professionalism, grace, humor and humility. You persevere and endure in spite of often seemingly … [Read more...]

Resilience is a topic many law enforcement trainers have been paying attention to and talking about over the last year or two.   Some people define resilience as bouncing back after a traumatic event. I am going to respectfully disagree. I don’t think we can bounce back or go back to where we were before an event.  We will not go back to a pre-pandemic world once the threat of COVID-19 has passed, if that even happens. We cannot go back to the world before the death of George Floyd.  After a critical incident on the job or a career in law enforcement you cannot … [Read more...]

This is an extremely challenging and emotionally charged time for the law enforcement profession. Training and leadership are more important than ever. Training needs to be delivered in a way that is most likely to result in learning, retention and the ability to recall and apply the learning. Training cannot be just “tick the box” or “flavor of the day training” delivered so an agency can say, “Everyone was trained in __________.”  There is a difference in between actually being trained and simply having attended training.  Training needs to be relevant and engaging. … [Read more...]

Being a trainer is a privilege. Like all privileges it comes with responsibilities.   You have a responsibility to the men and women you teach, to their families, to the men and women they will work with and their families, to their agency, and to the community they will serve to provide the highest quality training possible.  You have a responsibility to be educated on the keys to effective learning and effective teaching as well as educated in the subject matter you are teaching.  You have a responsibility to do the work to ensure the material you are teaching … [Read more...]