January 2024: New On-Demand Law Enforcement and Public Safety Courses

In January 2024, the DLG Learning Center is thrilled to announce the introduction of a comprehensive suite of new courses, each meticulously designed to address critical aspects of law enforcement and public safety. These courses are crafted to provide police officers and law enforcement professionals with advanced insights and practical skills in various critical areas.

The Gold Standard: Flipping the Narrative on Police Use of Force

In 2020, approximately 53.8 million people aged 16 or older had one or more contacts with police. Approximately 2% (or just over 1 million) result in some level of force. The most dramatic change to policing, specifically use of police force, came after the events of 2020. We now find a collision between the demand to use less force while increasing the number of officers and their pay. Police leaders need to create a gold standard to ensure the use of force culture within our departments does not react to the narrative but rather create the narrative. Concepts covered include:

• Awareness of the use of force culture
• Knowledge of attitudes held by officers (patrol, specialty teams, & training)
• Ensuring there is a high level of competency and knowledge surrounding use of force.
• Professionalism increasing with experience.
• Tabletop exercises with city managers, PIO’s, DOJ, elected officials, trusted partners within the media, and public interest groups.

Applying Kingsley v. Hendrickson to a UOF Report

Taking the eight principles of this landmark case and implementing them in line staff UOF reports. Report out with the same standards that staff will encounter years later in potential litigation.

Don’t Get Emplawyered: Practical Employment Law Guidance for Dealing with Injured Officers

Officers and deputies will get injured. That is well established and understood as a risk inherent in the law enforcement profession. However, agencies must be poised to respond to those injuries and to take certain precautions to protect officers from injuries, consistent with state and federal law. This seminar will examine Workers’ Compensation issues, contemporary trends in disability discrimination law, a discussion on defective training, and best practices in agency training protocols.

How We Train Matters as Much as What We Train: Teaching Use of Force Decision-Making

How you present and share information during training is just as important as the material you are training. This course will discuss training methods and techniques to build better use of force decision-makers. Our goal is training new officers to retain, retrieve and transfer their knowledge to perform sound decision-making in use of force situations where time is of the essence.

Force Reporting and Force Investigation 101

This seminar will review the operational standards to identify an effective force reporting and investigation process. Developing an effective report form and collection of necessary data to identify risk. Identify a process to evaluate policy and training interpretation.

The Implementation of Social Workers into Law Enforcement Operations

In the ever-evolving landscape of law enforcement/community relations, the integration of social workers into law enforcement operations has emerged as one approach for addressing complex societal issues with empathy, compassion, and a focus on community well-being. The role of law enforcement in our society has expanded greatly beyond our core functions of patrol operations and criminal investigations. Today, our officers’ calls for service consist of a myriad of non-criminal “investigations” and other community welfare situations. To address these ever-expanding responsibilities, while adhering to our core functions and upholding our duty of care to our communities, some agencies have implemented social workers in various capacities, into their operations. This presentation will examine the various administrative structures for implementing social workers into your law enforcement operations including challenges presented by each administrative model.

De-Escalation Tactics

Is your agency actually training in this area? Are the results being tracked? Quantified? Covid has significantly impacted staff, staffing levels, morale, and increased periods of lockdowns. Has your agency re-visited its protocol/amended it to include the effects of the pandemic?

Officer Involved Shooting: Different Perspectives

This seminar will examine the investigative best practices for providing a standardized and systematic approach to deadly force and in-custody death investigations.

Law Enforcement Active De-Escalation: Realistic and Measurable

This workshop is based on the L.E.A.D.S. – Law Enforcement Active Diffusion Strategies force mitigation and avoidance course. Recently receiving the 2022 F.B.I. National Academy Associates Award. This workshop covers the realities of de-escalation and force mitigation. Discussion will be on the facts, myths, and misrepresentation of conflict resolution in law enforcement settings. Actual de-escalation strategies will be discussed along with how to properly document the diffusion tactics within the report. We will also cover how de-escalation, or the lack of de-escalation can be used against the officer in litigation. We will wrap up with strategies and tactics to prepare when de-escalation is not a suitable option.

Perception-Response Times for OIS Investigations

This presentation will survey the research on perception-response times for shooting tasks and will demonstrate how these important studies can be appropriately applied to the analysis of real-world OIS cases. 

Use of Force – The New Social Contract 

Police reform has occurred in policing with the first reform by Sir Robert Peel. Peel disseminated new rules for police operations with the focus that the power of the police is dependent on public approval and respect.  Specifically for law enforcement, social contract theory is important to justify the authority that law enforcement can exert over the population. The power imbalance, held by law enforcement, is part of the contract that society has agreed upon in exchange for security.  In today’s policing across the country, society wants the social contract to have more community input on police practices. For any reform to succeed, police leaders need to demonstrate why it is important and credibly articulate the benefits to the rank-and-file officers who will be charged with incorporating the new practices into their everyday shifts. This session will discuss the role of commanders in the new era of policing.  

Use of Force – Are We Seeing it Clearly?

The focus of this class will provide an overview of how we view the use of force in the 2020s with an emphasis on the officer’s perception. These officer’s perceptions drive our decision-making process while focusing on the facts and totality of circumstances at hand. Some key topics of discussion are “Use of Force and Today’s Optics”, “Perception and the Use of Force” and “Use of Force and Trauma”. 

So, You’re an Expert?

Session information coming soon.

Challenge or Threat? Using Science to Develop PREPARED Officers and not PARANOID Ones

It isn’t as simple as attending pre-and in-service training or meeting your state and local mandates. The more we help our officers understand their human nature and the fascinating science behind human factors, the closer we can get to improved decisions and performance. When confronted with stressors on or off duty, does your officer perceive the event as a threat or a challenge? That distinction and the brain function behind it just might be a major piece of the puzzle leading to the outcome. We’ll discuss the reasons and opportunities ahead to help our staff focus their lens on the best direction. 

Cooperation During Use of Force Investigations

The comprehensive analysis of a use-of-force encounter often requires cooperation amongst participants with varied manners of expertise. This presentation will explore a real-world case in which investigators were required to examine the manner of death of a subject following the application of less-lethal force by responding officers. The speaker will demonstrate how information drawn from experts in the disciplines of law, psychology, biomechanics, engineering, and decision-making was combined to reach a reliable conclusion to the matter at hand. 

Chief’s Perspective: What’s After a Significant Use of Force

Chief Vernon Riddick provides a glimpse through the lens of a police chief and how policy, training, and supervision can impact what will occur after an incident involving a significant use of force. Moreover, he will focus on what the “book” does not tell you and delve into the real-world applications of being a police chief and the considerations that must be contemplated during these types of incidents. Conversations will include leading and managing – the art of decision making; fairness vs equality; chief’s counsel; internal and external relationships; trauma; and “doing the right thing.” 

Duty to Intervene: Where to from Here?

The Duty to intervene involves the obligation of deputies and officers to intervene when force is inappropriately applied or no longer required. Join Carrie Hill as she shares with you the standard for the use of force and the theory of bystander liability in the correctional setting.  Understanding the law and having legal-based policies and procedures can protect you, your colleagues, and those persons under your care. 

You’ve Just Been Involved in a Shooting – Now What?

Being involved in a shooting or a serious use of force incident can be one of, if not the most, stressful event in an officer’s career. The steps taken in the immediate aftermath can make all the difference and potentially save an officer’s career. This course will cover the steps officers and supervisors need to take to protect the scene and the rights of all officers involved. We will cover securing the scene and safeguarding important evidence, when and who to talk to, and the importance of a public safety statement. We will also discuss how best to leave the scene while assuring the involved officers’ well-being is addressed and what to expect during the ensuing multiple investigations. 

How Did That Happen? Understanding Use of Force Events Through Systems Mapping for Better Process and Outcomes

We are still missing the point. What happened is obvious and yet we spend most of our time looking at that part. It’s the HOW that we need to know and the amount and levels of information we ignore are critical to a full understanding of the force event. Systems mapping will be introduced and discussed as a means not only to internal improvements and understanding but also to help citizens and partners gain a more accurate view of the influences and operations of police use of force events. 

Introduction to Interviews for Use of Force Investigations

One of the most important and controversial aspects of any use of force investigation is the interview with the involved officer(s). This presentation will examine the who, what, where, when, and why of use of these critical interviews while demonstrating the merits, both to the quality of the data collected and to officer wellness, of taking an inductive approach. 

Tactical Risk Assessment Matrix – Unfolding the Mystery

This seminar will examine the purpose and functions of the risk assessment matrix for preplanned SWAT operations. The panelists will discuss the background, history, and foundational purpose of the matrix and how it applies to SWAT and other specialty units. 

Urban Myths in the Jail

There are many debunked “myths” that survive in the jail setting, governing the development of policy, training practice, and officer actions. Let’s look at some of the more critical “myths” and consider how they impact your daily activities as an officer, supervisor, and administrator. Should they live on? 

Tactical Operation Legal Update

This seminar will review the standards and case law applicable to the use of a tactical team and tactical-related issues. The purpose is to identify the current legal challenges and successes directly related to tactical operations and tactical-related equipment. These cases are reviewed for operators and commanders to understand the basis of force decisions and how to meet the constitutional requirements of the Fourth Amendment. 

NTOA Standards – Public Order Use of Force

Captain Spencer Fomby (Ret.) will cover the best practices for police use of force during a protest event. This session will address individual uses of force by officers, use of chemical agents and impact munitions, mass detentions/arrests, arrest team tactics, planning, and command and control. 

The Investigator’s Checklist: You Won’t Find What You Don’t Look For

Having been involved in some of the most high-profile use-of-force cases in the country, Von Kliem, CEO and Director of Consulting for Force Science, will share how he guides investigators and attorneys in their understanding of human performance during threat assessments and responses. Attendees will be introduced to an investigator checklist and shown how it can be immediately incorporated into their current investigative approaches. 

Why Words Matter

This session will address how communication impacts human beings as well as police use of force situations. Here we explore how the erosion of basic communication skills has contributed to police use of force. So how do we regain these valuable tools, apply sound interpersonal communication, empathize with others, and accomplish safe and effective resolutions to conflicts while reducing the use of force situations? This training segment will identify the problems and provide sound strategies for application both in policing and in your personal life.    

Use of Force in Corrections: Legal Update

Now more than ever, the discussion surrounding the use of force is critical for all commanders and staff.   This seminar will discuss the legal developments in the use of force including an extensive review of the Kingsley case.  Discussions will include how the public’s perception of the use of force has changed over the years with an emphasis on legal-based report writing, the duty to intervene, and de-escalation efforts.  The impact of video will also be a focal point as well as the importance of consistency in training throughout the entire agency. 

Crowd Control First Amendment Protection

This seminar examines the who, what, when, where, and why of interviews for force investigations. From the unique aspects and challenges of interviewing a law enforcement officer, to when an interview should be conducted after a critical incident, this seminar cuts through the controversy with a science-based approach for maximizing memory retrieval and communication. 

Addressing the Reluctant Officer: Is It Failure or Hesitancy

With calls for police reforms across the country, anti-law enforcement legislature, politicians, mainstream, social media all judging and scrutinizing every action of a law enforcement officer. All these factors play heavily on police officers’ reluctance to use force. There is a call from experts and trainers from across the county on how to deal with these issues.  There are multiple reasons why officers failed to act during a use of force incident. This workshop identifies an array of reasons why officers do not respond to use of force incidents. Discussions will be based upon use of force investigation, cognitive interviewing, non-disciplinary retraining, adaptive thinking under stress and quantifiable measurements. 

CALEA Accreditation Standards for Use of Force

CALEA provided numerous updates to its Use of Force Standards following the national civil unrest and the policy accountability legislation that followed. CALEA was ahead of most police accountability legislation as far as the speed at which it updated their standards in August 2020.  These changes, many effective immediately in August 2020, added new requirements which mandated policy changes, training changes and reporting requirements.  This course will provide an overview of the CALEA Use of Force standards in general and will specifically emphasize the 2020 standards updates as well as any updates and guidance provided by CALEA since these major changes were implemented. 

Tag: You’re It! The Duty to Intervene & Bystander Liability

This seminar will discuss how the duty to intervene, and bystander liability have suddenly become household terms across the country, with many civilians touting such concepts as innovative and revolutionary to the law enforcement profession.  These terms are not new, however, and those actually in the profession know as much.  This session will cover the concepts of the duty to intervene, applicable legal and policy standards, and modern approaches to these concepts. 

Chemical Agents: What Rules Have Changed, and What Rules Remain the Same?

New laws, expectations, and technology have changed the way we train and use chemical agents.  This course is designed to prepare your agency for using chemical agents as a patrol response and during crowd control.  Concepts covered include: 

• Use of Force Standards for chemical agents 
• The use of PepperBall® in patrol applications 
• What chemical agents should be used and how should they be used during a crowd control incident? 
• Tactics prior to using force 

Developing a Dedicated Use of Force Unit: Review, Analysis, Data Collection, and Training

This presentation will examine how to create a cutting-edge Use of Force Review Unit dedicated to accurate data collection, analysis, and training based on the thorough examination of every use of force incident within an agency. This in turn will aid in the development of policies, innovative strategies, and improved outcomes through proactive evidence-based human factors training and guidance to enhance officer performance. 

Use of Force for Our New Generation of Officers: Retention, Resiliency, and Leadership

We face challenges to recruit, train, and retain our current generation of officers including increased dependence on technology, an uncertain policing environment, and a generation of applicants with different values from our veteran officers.  We have seen an increase in mental health concerns from our officers, the introduction of the “degrees of truth” concept, and officers having a difficult time grasping fundamental concepts of policing.  These challenges create inconsistencies which lead to a decrease in productivity, efficiency, and public trust.  Concepts covered include: 

• Increasing resiliency after a use of force 
• Retention during difficult times 
• Different leadership for a different culture 
• Understanding why our officers learn differently than we do 

Use of Force Review Boards

This seminar will identify recommended practices to ensure an effective force review board. From policy to guide its process and the use of subject matter experts to analyze the daily force operations. 

Development of Psychomotor Skills and Effective Training Strategies for Resistance and Aggression

The training workshop will examine the most recent and up-to-date issues that specifically impact training units and law enforcement / correctional instructors. This session breaks down multiple issues ranging from failure to engage issues, developing quantifiable evidence, curriculum design, and selection. Instruction uses lectures, demonstrations, and case studies. Is training important? Just one improper technique changed the county!     

• Develop instructor skills and teaching methodologies to effectively deliver psychomotor skills.   
• Develop instructor skills to coordinate and facilitate effective police combat psychomotor drills in a safe and realistic environment.   
• Are we checking the box or measuring the training?   
• Failure to engage incidents – taking corrective steps.   
• Development of the use of force psychomotor skills for long-term potentiation.   
• Curriculum selection, what, when, how, and WHY?   
• Discuss techniques for the development of skills.   
• Developing a “preprogrammed” response.   
• Developing adaptive thinking skills under stress.  

The Investigator’s Role in Trauma Mitigation During Critical Incident Investigations

This course considers the investigator’s role during critical incident investigations and how the understanding of human performance limitations can mitigate trauma during the investigative process.

As we embark on 2024, the DLG Learning Center is proud to present an extensive range of newly developed courses, each thoughtfully curated to meet the evolving needs of law enforcement and public safety. Our latest offerings aim to empower police officers and law enforcement professionals with deeper insights and enhanced practical abilities, covering a breadth of crucial areas in the field. We are excited for participants to experience this enriching educational journey, designed to elevate their expertise and readiness in serving their communities.