As a Sheriff’s Deputy, I spend a lot of time in training—probably more than people in most other
professions. A quick online search showed that the State of Colorado requires nearly double the
continuing education for a law enforcement officer than it does for a physician. These are very
different training requirements, even though decisions made in both professions have very real
consequences.
I feel fortunate that I get the opportunity to be an instructor and speaker presenting in front of
various groups, from law enforcement and corrections personnel to community advocates. I
realize that when I lead training, I get to set the tone—positive or negative, forward-looking or
rehashing the past. All too often, training presented by non-law enforcement spends an
inordinate amount of time showing video after video, or news clip after news clip, of things going
bad. These incidents frequently come from communities nowhere near where I serve, setting a
negative tone by rehashing the past.
As an example, I recently attended a two-hour training by a federal agency on language access
that did just that—video after video of things going bad. Some of the videos were years old. It
wasn’t long before every person in the room was slouched in their chair, arms crossed. And can
you blame them? It's almost as if it’s on purpose because videos of things going right aren’t
provoking. What kind of training value was there? As we neared the end of the two hours, I
asked the trainers, “So what do you want us to do differently?” The response I got was, “We
don’t have a slide on that.” I gave the trainers an example that had happened in my agency just
the week before, where a patrol sergeant had called me saying he needed an ASL interpreter
on-scene right away. Even though I know my resources, no one in my area was immediately
available. I asked the trainers what to do in situations such as this. No answer. The training was
a failure. Not only did the officers leave with a negative perception of the issue, but it turned out
to be what I call a checkbox training; I left with nothing new about how to serve my community
better, but I attended training and checked the box. Talk about a missed opportunity.
Don’t get me wrong—we cannot and should not forget past wrongs. Historical injustices are real
and modern day incidents happen. And while it's essential to acknowledge these incidents, as
trainers and speakers, the primary focus must be on the future. The goal is to effect change
through collaborative efforts and constructive training by focusing on what we want law
enforcement to do going forward. In other words, we need to build training where past wrongs
are acknowledged, but the primary emphasis is on creating a better and collaborative future. In
fact, if you want to build better training, unless you can have a true discussion and learning
opportunity from it, I’d suggest leaving out past negative incidents and taking your training
opportunity to focus solely on what you want your audience to do in the future.
Training from a position of empowerment is about seeing the potential for positive change and
working to achieve it. Together, we can create a community where trust and cooperation
flourish. As the trainer, you are empowered; you’ve been given the floor. Spend your time
focusing on what you want your audience to do going forward rather than rehashing the past.
Blog by Chris Smith, MBA, ADAC, Deputy/ADA Coordinator Larimer County Sheriff's Office, and RMADAC Advisory Committee member.