In March 2019, I had the privilege of attending and instructing at the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA) Conference. I was able to attend multiple courses over the week, but the ones that had the most impact on me were a couple of classes on field training and applying stress appropriately during training. These classes got me thinking about my department’s field training program and the issues we were having training our next generation of police officers.

During one of the classes on field training, the instructor asked the following – How much has policing changed over just the last 5 years? How about the last 25 years? The last 50 years? Then he enlightened the class to the fact that the two most common models for field training used throughout the United States have been in use between 25 and 50 years. That information hit me like a ton of bricks because it was starting to make sense to me why we were having the issues we were having. Law enforcement field training, either for lack of a better option or due to tradition, had failed to keep up with new philosophies in policing, improved instructing/learning strategies, and generational differences by continuing to utilize these models.

Shortly after attending ILEETA, I had the opportunity to attend the Excellence in Training Class put on my Brian Willis. During that class, he asked us to think of a program that we were responsible for and answer the following questions:

• What do you want to START doing that you aren’t already?
• What do you want to STOP doing that isn’t working?
• What do you want to CONTINUE doing that is working?
• What are you willing and able to CHANGE?

With the ideas from ILEETA still fresh in my mind, I began writing out my answers to these questions. By the time I got done and reread my thoughts, the seed had been planted. If I could turn these thoughts into a legit field training program, then my agency would have an amazing field training program. So, with those notes, I began writing it out and six months later the Nextgen Field Training Model was developed.

The purpose of the Nextgen Field Training Model was to bring our field training better into alignment with 21^st century policing ideals and train new officers in adaptive decision-making while utilizing improved instruction/learning strategies. To do this, the Nextgen Field Training Model was built on five foundational principles:

• Establish a simple set of Standard Evaluation Guidelines that clearly define the expectations of a successful solo capable officer while emphasizing the Nextgen process for getting to this outcome.

• Create a culture of rewarding learner effort and learner risk taking with a distinct separation between training and evaluating built upon a crawl-walk-run experiential learning format.

• Emphasize the creation of adaptive decision-makers that can solve complex problems by basing training and debriefing around the P-R-I-D-E Adaptive Decision-Making Model.

• Establish stronger connections between prior knowledge, skills, and experiences and the knowledge, skills, and experiences being taught during field training by implementing the most current instruction/learning strategies available.

• Promote the officer safety concept of treating everyone with dignity and respect, but never compromising officer safety, good tactics, and appropriate use of force.

With these foundational elements in place, the Nextgen Field Training Model was taught to our cadre of current field trainers and implemented starting in September 2019. Over the last year and a half, we have seen excellent results with the 50+ officers-in-training that have gone through the program. Feedback from both field trainers and trainees has been extremely positive.  In coming TBLL posts, I will share more details related to the Nextgen Field Training Model and what has made it so successful.

The mission at Thin Blue Line of Leadership is to inspire law enforcement supervisors to be the best leaders they can be by providing positive leadership tactics and ideas. Positive leadership and creating a positive squad culture are on-going commitments that must be nurtured and developed over time. Thin Blue Line of Leadership is here to help.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have ideas to share or suggestions for improvement. Your thoughts or comments on this blog are always appreciated either below or on our Facebook page. You can also follow us on Twitter at @tbl_leadership.

Continue saving the world one call at a time and as always, LEAD ON!