I continue to see people proudly post pictures on LinkedIn (the only social media platform I am on) showing recruits in a police academy all standing at attention, the male recruits all with shaved heads, while “Drill Instructors” are screaming and yelling at these new officers. The photos are often accompanied by a comment on what a great job these “Drill Instructors” are doing.  Why do we think that having police recruits shave their heads and stand at attention on Day 1 of a police academy while police trainers dressed like military drill instructors scream and yell at them and … [Read more...]

"...what matters is not the final destination, but all the interesting things that occur along the way. For wherever you are, there is somewhere further you can go." Tim Ingold Wherever you are in your journey as a trainer, there is somewhere further you can go. There is more to learn, more to do, more to experience. Regardless of how good your current training is, there is somewhere further you can take it.  The first step is to keep your ego in check and be cautious about “5” ratings on the end of course evaluations, and about comments such as, “This is the best training course … [Read more...]

While the benefits of controlled breathing have been talked about for over two decades in law enforcement training, we rarely go beyond talking about it and maybe practicing it a few times in a classroom. The most common breathing pattern taught has been box breathing where you inhale for the count of 4, hold the breath for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4 and repeat. The research now shows that the cyclic sigh (also known as a physiological sigh) is a more effective breathing pattern than box breathing.  Melis Yilmaz Balban PhD is a Harvard trained neuroscientist with expertise in the … [Read more...]

One of the three guiding principles in the Excellence in Training philosophy is, “It is not about you.” This is also part of the Dare to Be Great Leadership workshops. The message is that as a leader, coach, trainer, or mentor it cannot be about you. It must be about the people you have the privilege and honor of teaching, coaching, mentoring and leading. Some trainers get this right away and for others it takes time to learn this important lesson.  In an episode of The Unfair Advantage podcast host Alex Auerbach asked his guest Dan Abrahams this question at the end of the interview, “If … [Read more...]

I have posted on several occasions about the issue of requiring post-secondary education to get hired in law enforcement the last one being, “Some thoughts on the calls for better educated cops.”. I have made it very clear that I am against this arbitrary standard, which is not supported by research, for a variety of reasons. I am now seeing agencies who are dropping this requirement being accused of “lowering standards”, and agencies who had added it claiming they are “raising standards”.  If agencies strongly believe that post-secondary education helps to develop better critical thinkers, … [Read more...]

If you teach at a pre-service academy you need to reflect on what you are doing as an instructional cadre and ask yourselves, “Are we setting these new officers up for failure or success?” Are you setting them up for failure by teaching the material in a blocked and siloed manner that teaches to the test? Or are you setting them up for success by teaching in a manner that facilitates understanding, learning, retention, and the ability to recall and apply what was taught through the implementation the concepts of reflection, active retrieval, spaced practice, desirable difficulties, and … [Read more...]

I am at the 20th Annual International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA) Conference in St. Louis this week so I thought it would be appropriate to repost this from earlier this year. Law enforcement is one of the most complex and demanding professions in society. Trainers play a critical role in preparing the minds and bodies of the heroic men and women they train to perform at the highest levels while dealing with complex and challenging tasks in dynamic and often chaotic environments. So, what are you doing to continually develop the skills and knowledge of your … [Read more...]

"My observation is that the doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker and doer in one person. And if we really go back and we examine, you know, did Leonardo have a guy off to the side that was thinking five years out in the future what he would paint or the technology he would use to paint it? Of course not. Leonardo was the artist, but he also mixed all his own paints. He also was a fairly good chemist. He knew about pigments, knew about human anatomy. And combining all of those skills together, the art and the … [Read more...]

When you speak to trainers and discuss potential changes to enhance the way we design and deliver training, very often the first response is some version of the following statements, “That will never work. We could never do that. The brass would never buy in to that. Our officers would never go along with that.”  What if instead of shutting the idea down we asked the questions, “What if it could work? What would it look like and how would we implement it over time?” What if instead of trying to jam 3 to 5 years of policing experience and knowledge into a 4-to-6-month academy we … [Read more...]

After 33 years of teaching, I have learned the hard way about the power of words. What you say and how you say it has a greater impact on the audience than you may ever know. I am always interested in the topic of Resilience and so I was excited to be able to attend a session on Building Your Own Resilience at an Emergency Services conference where I was presenting. The instructor was highly credentialed and held a senior leadership position with an emergency services agency.  At one point in the presentation, he was talking about resilience building strategies covered during a … [Read more...]