Training a new generation of police

Published 12:00 am Monday, October 12, 2015

Jarod Opperman / The Bulletin Officer Kecia Weaver makes contact with people hanging out at the parking lot between Brooks Street and Drake Park on Wednesday. The Bend Police Department is changing the way it trains officers to focus more on community policing.

As communities across the country re-examine their police forces, leadership at the Bend Police Department will soon test a new training model that they believe may train more effective, resilient police.

The new training model harnesses research about how adults learn best and emphasizes mentorship and proactive policing. It is designed to develop an officer’s emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills, which dovetail with federal guidelines on community policing.

In a sense, the department has already embraced some of the philosophies behind the new, community-oriented model, says Bend Police Chief Jim Porter.

Officers attend neighborhood association meetings, and the department has recently rolled out a new Community Response Team, made up of a sergeant and two officers. Their sole focus will be handling mental health crises.

Under the current training model, called the Field Training and Evaluation Program, a new hire spends her first weeks out on patrol with an experienced officer. Under the proposed new program, referred to as Police Training Officer, much training would remain in the field, but the teaching methods would change.

“It’s great at evaluations,” Bend Police Capt. Cory Darling said of the current model, in which supervisors provide quantitative scores on recruit performance in daily feedback reports. “But it doesn’t bring in the adult learning component and the collaboration between the police training officer and the recruit.”

Rather than emphasizing those scores, the new curriculum emphasizes growth and learning: At a training seminar last week, attendees discussed how to “fail forward”: essentially, how to learn from one’s mistakes.

The new curriculum instructs trainers in adult learning theory: understanding of how the adult brain absorbs and applies knowledge. It’s a somewhat lofty concept for the concrete work of police, but supervisors at the police department believe it can help police recruits better adapt to new situations that they’ll eventually confront when they graduate to patrol on their own .

Last week, the Bend Police Department hosted a five-day seminar on the PTO model for supervisors from various law enforcement agencies — from members of the local office of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to the Hillsboro Police Department — that focused on the various aspects of the PTO model.

The model, which was developed over a decade ago in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice’s focus on community-oriented policing, has become more popular in Oregon in recent months, according to Nick Hurley, of the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, who co-taught the training seminar.

The statewide interest in the new curriculum is also in response to something of an internal, generational shift, Hurley said.

“They’re coming at us from a completely different realm,” Hurley said of the millennial generation, who as they come of age now make up a greater number of police .

Porter agreed: The department’s youngest cops are seeking more balance between work than past generations have. The training regimen’s emphases on developing emotional intelligence and officer mental wellness are good fits for these new young officers, whose family and recreational priorities rank equally with their career, according to Porter. He also noted that their most recent hires are experienced: Many have college degrees or served in the military, or both.

Hurley referenced the “hiring puddle” that has replaced the proverbial hiring pool for police agencies of late. Now when departments hire recruits, they want to retain them by helping them build professional skills. More departments now recognize those skills extend beyond fighting crime, to managing relationships with citizen stakeholders and being mindful of vicarious trauma.

“What’s our biggest asset here? It’s the officer,” Porter said, noting that tens of thousands of dollars are invested in each new trainee of the department. “From a business (standpoint), you want to them to succeed.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0376,

cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com

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