Meeting training needs on a limited budget

Today’s police department budgets are spread thin, and there’s rarely enough to cover everything needed. One area that is almost never adequately funded is training. Let’s face it, quality courses can be quite expensive.

While there is reasonably priced training available (typically web-based or local offerings), most agencies have one portion of the solution within their ranks right now. Police executives typically know who their “go-to” officers are — the ones who possess specialized knowledge. Many times, the go-to officers are fine candidates to be instructors.

Establishing your own department training section or selecting knowledgeable officers within your department is a cost-effective way to provide training to your officers. Consider creating your own courses that can be offered to not only your own department members, but perhaps also other local agencies. Let’s take a look at how to create police topic training.

Creating a law enforcement continuing education course does not have to be a complicated and seemingly impossible task. In fact, once you have the basics, it is a relatively easy process. The most time-consuming part of it is conducting the research and assembling the course itself. If you’re interested in authoring a police training course, this article should be of interest to you.

I have developed, and assisted others in developing, dozens of continuing education courses for law enforcement in Missouri over the past 20 years. What I learned in doing so is that I do not have to be an expert to instruct many courses (though there are some subjects that require substantial knowledge and/or third-party accreditation, such as field sobriety testing, firearms training, etc.). The key to developing and instructing these courses is that you have an interest in the subject matter, and your research provides you with enough information to be proficient in teaching it.

Let’s consider the steps of creating a training course:

1. Decide on the training subject.
2. Research.
3. Develop an outline of course topics.
4. Determine if your course requires tests or practical exercises.
5. Complete a full lesson plan.
6. Create a bibliography/source material list.
7. Generate a presentation.
8. Complete the necessary requisites and paperwork for your continuing education accreditation.
9. Instruct the course.

Deciding on the training subject

What subjects do you find interesting? Do you like traffic enforcement? Accident investigations? Perhaps you are interested in more creative subjects, such as handling first amendment auditors, conflict de-escalation or racial profiling? Regardless of your interests, you are almost certain to find some topics that are within your bailiwick of aptitude or knowledge. Additionally, you may want to find topics that are required by your state’s police oversight organization; these subjects usually include racial profiling, de-escalation and/or implicit bias. These types of courses can be put together relatively easily, since much research material exists. If you have certifications for firearms training, breath test instrument training, etc., you can create your courses based on your training in those areas. Many times, courses that are sponsored by NHTSA have lesson plans already on file — all you have to do is adopt that curriculum for your course and include it in your paperwork to your state law enforcement oversight commission.

Determining course objectives

Course objectives are the key points of the course. In other words, what will participants in your class learn or be able to do by the end of the course? These will be your objectives. While there is no specific number of objectives you have to list, you will want them to reflect the major ideas in your curriculum. As you go through the process of creating a course, your objectives may change before you’ve polished it.

Research

This is the most time-intensive portion of your course creation process. While you do not have to be an “expert,” you must have a reasonable basis of knowledge on the topic. This can be done by research. Research can be conducted online and through books, scholarly publications, textbooks, magazine articles, etc. You want to ensure that your research material is up to date and factually accurate. As a general rule, as I conduct research, I note significant facts, statistics, items for inclusion in the course, etc., and list the source material for the bibliography. Also, remember to locate any videos, photographs or other relevant material if needed for your course.

Developing an outline of course topics

This portion of the creation process occurs after you’ve accumulated the necessary information to put your course together. Simply place the topics in the order you wish to address them during the course. Don’t worry if the outline is rough. You can hone it to as close to perfection as you wish further in the process.

Determining if your course requires tests or practical exercises

Many courses, if not most, will not require some type of testing or practical exercises. Those are typically required for skill development courses, such as firearms proficiency, active shooting courses or field sobriety testing. If your course can easily be done by lecture, videos, etc., then exams and exercises will likely be unnecessary. This simplifies the instructor’s duties and is usually greatly appreciated by the audience.

Completing a complete lesson plan

This is when you will polish it. The lesson plan will contain all of the information you plan to present to your audience. You will want to ensure that the lesson plan covers all of the objectives you’ve outlined previously. In fact, you should indicate with a numbered parenthesis, asterisk, etc., when an objective is broached in your lesson plan document.

Creating a bibliography/source material list

You’ve already noted what sources you’ve used to create your course. Now, list them out on a separate document with the magazine/book’s name, author’s name, date of publication and (in case of a book) list chapter and page number(s). This list should be included with the lesson plan and objectives when your course is packaged and sent to your state’s law enforcement oversight commission for approval.

Generating a presentation

Most of us use PowerPoint or similar computer programs for presentations. You should follow your lesson plan in chronological order for your slides. Be sure to include some graphics so that your audience isn’t just staring at sentences all day. For added value, occasionally insert relevant cartoons, memes, videos or other items (particularly after a specific point is made or at the end of a section).

Completing the necessary requisites and paperwork for your continuing education accreditation

This is entirely at the requirements of your state’s law enforcement oversight commission. You can contact your state commission for the list of requirements. Simply assemble your paperwork per their requirements and send it off (it may be by snail mail or email, depending on your state’s capabilities and requested submission format).

Instructing the course

This is the big moment. This is when all of your hard work putting the course together comes to fruition. You will now stand in front of an audience of easily bored law enforcement types who are ready and willing to snooze while you talk. All jokes aside, it is easy to lose your audience to conversations or naps, so try not to speak in monotone, fit in some videos to keep their interest piqued and always seek out questions from the group. By keeping your audience members involved, you can keep them interested.

Following these steps can help any department create tailored training opportunities for their officers. It’s significantly less expensive than many other types of training and can be scheduled for the most convenient times for those involved.