To Protect and Serve...Drive to Survive!

To Protect and Serve...Drive to Survive!
Train as if your life depended on it! It does!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

FREE PURSUIT POLICY TRAINING WORKSHOPS

In an effort to reduce the number of deaths and injuries resulting from vehicle pursuits, ALERT International and IADLEST are partnering to provide a FREE, comprehensive pursuit management and policy training program throughout the nation.  For those of you unfamiliar with the acronyms, ALERT is the Association of Professional Law Enforcement Emergency Response Trainers International (http://www.alertinternational.com/). IADLEST is the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (http://www.iadlest.org/).  

Recognizing that pursuit driving is a very dangerous activity, police departments around the United States have begun to change their perspective of pursuits and their understanding of pursuit policy and training.  This research has prompted programs such as this, which encourage departments across the country to analyze current pursuit policies and training requirements to ensure their officers are well trained and prepared for the challenges they face on the streets during a pursuit.

This nationwide training effort addresses law enforcement vehicular pursuit policy issues, including factors to consider when initiating, conducting, and terminating a vehicular pursuit.  Procedures discussed in the pursuit policy workshops is consistent with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) guidelines. Participants are encouraged to bring their agency's pursuit policy to the workshop so it may be discussed and compared with IACP's current best practices.  

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who should attend?  Officers, deputies, troopers, on up to the executive levels of Chief or Sheriff.  Communications dispatchers are also encouraged to attend as they are a vital link in pursuit management and tactics.

What does it cost?  This 4 hour course is FREE to attendees and agencies.  Your only investment is your time to attend this course.  

When can I take this course?  Classes are offered all over the nation and can be tailored to meet your specific agency's needs.  View the website at www.PursuitTraining.org or call 1-888-902-1088 for details.  Classes can be assembled and delivered as quickly as 4 weeks in advance, depending on location.

Where can I take this course?  The instructors will come to you and your agency, anywhere in the United States, including Hawaii.  As a hosting agency, you will be asked to provide the Pursuit Trainers with a training or briefing room that will support audio and visual presentations.  Participant Manuals will be provided by ALERT and IADLEST and participants will receive Training Certificates at the end of the workshop.

Why should I attend?  You will receive the latest information in IACP approved pursuit management, tactics and policy best practices. Whether you are the officer on the street, the supervisor in charge of the pursuit, the radio dispatcher or the police executive reviewing and updating pursuit policy within your agency, you will be given the most current training information to protect yourself against civil and criminal prosecution as well as reduce the risk of serious injury and/or death as a result of a pursuit.  In addition, attendees who bring their pursuit policies for review will receive suggested recommendations for improvement following the IACP model pursuit policy guidelines. Attendees are welcome to take this information back to their respective legal advisors and policy makers to encourage necessary changes in policy and practice that will help reduce exposure to future civil litigation.     

How do I host a workshop or sign up for a class?  You may request to host a workshop at your department or sign up for a training session in your area by visiting the Pursuit Training website at www.PursuitTraining.org or by calling their toll free number at 1-888-902-1088. The Pursuit Training team will do the rest for you.  

It's not very often that training is offered for free, especially when it can be delivered right to your doorstep. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to receive the latest in pursuit policy training and management so you and your officers can "Drive to Survive".   

October Project Update and Funding Issues

The PSTI EVOC Project Workgroup met on October 6th (see Meeting Minutes of 10062010).  Vice Chancellor of College District Facilities David Umstot presented an update on Prop S and N Projects, specifically those projects affecting Miramar College and PSTI.  To synopsize, the College District is faced with a $45 million construction cost with a $30 million bond fund source.  The $16 million we were working with for the EVOC Project was in serious jeopardy of being re-allocated to higher priority projects on the Miramar campus.  In addition, the Prop S and N Citizens Oversight Committee and the Chancellor's Office had raised serious concerns over equitable cost-sharing issues related to the PSTI facility.

On October 14th, the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees met and approved the Chancellor's recommendation to approve allocation of all bond funds to the priority projects on the Miramar College campus, basically shifting the Prop N funds originally earmarked for EVOC to other, higher priority projects at Miramar College.  Essentially, we have now lost our construction funding source for this project.  There has been some discussion about the City and County fronting a third each of the construction costs (approximately $5.33 million each) but with the economic issues facing our government, funding a new EVOC facility is not the priority - people's jobs are.

What does all this mean?  Well, our project work group will meet this Wednesday (October 20th) to determine where we go from here. There are many issues to be addressed beyond just relocating the EVOC to an acceptable site.  All the issues related to NTC redevelopment, our current lease and subleases on site, as well as facility management of the NTC site itself will need to be discussed. In early November, the PSTI Board of Directors will meet to act on any recommendations from our work group as well as determine a new funding strategy and course of action.

As one can imagine, this a major disappointment to the project team.  Although the fall back plan has always been to continue training at Qualcomm Stadium while the new site is being built, we will continue to look for alternative solutions to the much greater issue at hand:  building a state of the art Emergency Vehicle Operations Center training facility.  We are certainly open to your suggestions...
          

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Below 100:Let's Get It Done!

A very timely article on officer safety and emergency vehicle operations by Dale Stockton, Editor-in-Chief of Law Officer Magazine.  Click on the heading to link to the article.