Police Education And Training Revisited Drawbacks And Advances

Police Education and Training in a Global Society provides an international survey of police officer education. Editors Peter C. Kratcoski and Dilip K. Das bring together police educators from every continent to explore the similarities and differences in preparing the police to meet their goals and accomplish their missions around the world. Represented are perspectives on training new recruits, in-service training, and advanced training. Several chapters focus on the specialized training such as that required to combat terrorism. Throughout, the need to concentrate on the development of technical skills and human relations is emphasized. The right combination of formal education and technical training is required if the police of the 21st century are to be effective. Police Education and Training in a Global Society is an ideal reference for police training professionals and those pursuing criminal justice and police training.

In his capacity as researcher and director of the Police Training Institute at the University of Illinois, Michael T. Charles undertook the difficult task of making needed changes to the police training academy curriculum. In Police Training: Breaking All the Rules, he gives the reader an overview of the history of police training in Illinois and follows with a description of the organizational and cultural changes that he helped to bring about. These include discussions of changes in areas such as method of teaching (pedagogical versus andragogical), discipline (quasi-military versus nonmilitary), and fitness training (morning program versus wellness program). The author also describes the steps taken to redefine student rules and regulations regarding an Honor Code and dress code. He outlines the administrative goal of providing recruits the opportunity to learn to follow orders in an atmosphere of mutual respect, an expectation of success, and team effort. Instructional personnel and staff were key to the process of changing the Institute and its culture. The author relates the actions taken to develop standards of quality including a mission statement, goals, and organizational philosophy. As a result of the director's efforts, the Institute's reputation for quality training, research, and innovation had been greatly enhanced and is now a leader in police training.

For Police Training, Police Administration and Organization, Police Management, and Issues in Policing courses. This is the first comprehensive text written that specifically deals with the complexity and ethical issues associated with the problems of police training. It provides an analysis of the process of training, from the historical and conceptual perspective with an emphasis on the steps that need to be taken to improve every stage of police training.

Training police in the knowledge and skills necessary to support the rule of law and protect the public is a substantial component of the activities of international organizations that provide foreign assistance. Significant challenges with such training activities arise with the wide range of cultural, institutional, political, and social contexts across countries. In addition, foreign assistance donors often have to leverage programs and capacity in their own countries to provide training in partner countries, and there are many examples of training, including in the United States, that do not rely on the best scientific evidence of policing practices and training design. Studies have shown disconnects between the reported goals of training, notably that of protecting the population, and actual behaviors by police officers. These realities present a diversity of challenges and opportunities for foreign assistance donors and police training. At the request of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the Committee on Law and Justice of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examined scientific evidence and assessed research needs for effective policing in the context of the challenges above. This report, the second in a series of five, responds to the following questions: What are the core knowledge and skills needed for police to promote the rule of law and protect the population? What is known about mechanisms (e.g., basic and continuing education or other capacity building programs) for developing the core skills needed for police to promote the rule of law and protect the population?

Arresting Communication: The Academy Edition was written by Lt. Jim Glennon a 30 year law enforcement veteran who also taught at a Police Academy for 12 years. The book can be used by academies as a blueprint for training as well as by recruit officers looking for the tools necessary to communicate effectively during any type of interaction. It includes subjects such as: body language, proxemics, detecting deception, how to get confessions, developing rapport, avoiding citizen complaints, and understanding the fundamental needs of the Human Animal. In addition, the book advises those entering the profession on how to make it through the Academy as well as the subsequent Probation Period that follows graduation and employment.

Lecturers and students who used this text (when it was a six-case collection from VU) have given very positive feedback, saying that these cases encouraged critical thinking and discussion about how their teaching practice differed from theory in real-world situations.