Are you leaving context and realism out of your training? Are you leaving critical thinking, problem solving and decision making out of your training? Are you leaving officer autonomy in solving problems out of your training?  Are you leaving desirable difficulties out of your training? Are you using training handcuffs and leaving out the important skills of double locking handcuffs and then unlocking them when you take them off? Are you leaving interleaving (think interweaving) out of your training? Are you leaving the power of effective questions to guide people to the … [Read more...]

Whenever an event occurs that involves a law enforcement officer doing something inappropriate or excessive, or failing to do what they were expected to do, it seems that the default for many in the profession is to look to point the finger of blame, look to condemn, look to put it all on the officer(s) involved and look to be critical of his or her agency.  If that is you, then you are looking in the wrong direction. You need to look in the mirror, look at your own agency and look at your own training. You need to look for understanding and learning.  It is easy to talk badly … [Read more...]

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 training cadre so they can accomplish their mission? A 40-hour instructor development course and a 40-hour instructor course in some system of control tactics, firearms, or EVOC should be just a piece of the … [Read more...]

“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect that core belief, they will rationalise, ignore, and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.” Frantz Fanon As a trainer you have likely experienced the cognitive dissonance Frantz Fanon describes above. It usually occurs when you discover new evidence, or evidence that is new … [Read more...]

In a presentation I was watching recently by Danny Newcome he defined coaching as “The Ongoing Search for Solutions”. If you think about sports coaches they are continually engaged in the ongoing search for solutions, and the great coaches are engaged in this search with their athletes. They are searching together to discover functional solutions to problems that are continually emerging in the environment in which the athletes must perform. By functional solutions I mean solutions that are practical, purposeful, useful, and relevant related to how it matches a specific context dependent … [Read more...]