Search Result: Best Practices

Some days it seems there's always some schmuck hell-bent on ruining my day. There have been times when I was really good at not letting the person get to me, and then there were other times when I wasn't and just added to the drama. In reality it is my reaction to the situation that has either helped or made it worse.

Setting up your goals properly makes coming up with the training elements very easy. Your training goal should be a statement of intent. If you are not defining your goals and therefore working toward them, you are merely treading water when you could be swimming.

Once the event starts, anything can happen. In other words, don't fight Murphy's Law but instead, embrace it as your credo; anything that can go wrong, will. The best time to handle a problem is before it ever starts, so incorporating contingency planning is critical to a successful event.

As officers we ignore stress and drive on as if it were part of a crusade. Whether we choose to accept it or not, it's our responsibility as individuals to handle it. Most of us sleep very little, eat like crap, and continuously ride an emotionally and adrenaline-filled roller coaster.

For the first time in history, we have four generations working side by side in the modern workplace. They consist of Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials (also known as Generation Y or Nexters). With four different groups working together, there is bound to be a collision between each other's set of values.

To promote the right mindset, we should use words like pre-attack indicators, offensive strategies, and response to aggressive and violent resistance. That's closer to what we really do.

In an organizational hierarchy, bureaucratic politics share the same tendencies wherever you go. We attend classes on almost every subject imaginable but I can't think of one on how to deal with the political nature of law enforcement.

Whenever anyone talks about report writing, images of my academy class and the boring report writing segment always comes to mind. What I didn't know then, but know now, is just how important report writing really is.

The reason wargaming training is so cost effective is that in its most basic form, the only resources an agency needs are time and imagination.

One of the best ways to train law enforcement officers in a classroom setting is to chunk up material into quickly memorized bites. You can also maximize the effectiveness of training by using a variety of memory aids.

Though there are many decision-making formats, there is one common component that is more important than any other: defining the problem you are trying to solve. One of the key ways to do so is by framing.

Once you realize that it's not personal, complaint response becomes a process not a confrontation. The key to dealing with any complaint is showing respect. By respecting yourself and others, everything else will fall into place.

Most officers place a great deal of emphasis on the tactical side of operations but forget that wars are now won through paperwork. That's why the warrior scribe is so important.