In law enforcement agencies across the country, there is a natural tendency not to address the signs of police misconduct and personal distress until they reach a critical point—meaning that the professional and personal unraveling of officers is on display for the media, public trust is negatively affected and severe officer discipline, termination or other self-destructive officer outcomes are inevitable.  It is vital that agencies break this pattern and embrace pro-active hiring initiatives and early intervention as a method of minimizing the damage ultimately done to officer safety, public safety and officers’ livelihoods when cumulative issues—left untreated—rise to the level of crisis.

This course will prepare public safety professionals, human resources,  peer support, civilian support personnel, community advocates and union executives to craft strategies intended to address police misconduct and crisis in the early stages, save careers when possible and increase the safety of law enforcement professionals and the public they serve.

• Identifying and addressing the factors that cloud judgment in the hiring process and lead to bad hires.
• Investing in effective background investigations in the interest of the agency, the community and the applicants.
• Implementing agency developmental programs that create partnerships at work and at home with the goal of arriving at retirement healthy.
• Looking for resiliency during the recruiting and probationary process.
• Understanding how to more effectively view your agency and new hires through a multi-generational lens rather than through the leader’s limited focus.
• Recognizing how an understanding of emotional intelligence could positively impact officer behavior and interaction with the public through cognitive rather than emotional processing.
• Addressing misconduct and performance issues in a way that is legally defensible through enhanced agency policies focusing on accountability and corrective measures.
• Understanding the importance of early intervention before officers are in crisis.
• Addressing the myth of “retraining” as a cure-all for police misconduct.
• Asking what is the agency doing to keep its people healthy, and what are the safety ramifications to department members and the public if nothing is done?
• Utilizing family and financial literacy training and other retirement planning education at the start of officers’ careers instead of waiting until it is too late.
• Increasing intervention and accountability with the goal of decreasing discipline and minimizing liability.
• Utilizing separation agreements and other non-adversarial methods when intervention strategies prove unsuccessful.