Advanced Law Enforcement
Question 1. Continued Training for Police Officers
Law enforcement administrators recognize that providing training for personnel is an important yet at times difficult task. As Kiley (1998) has pointed out, offering advanced training to experienced personnel such as detectives or administrators is difficult because these individuals often have extensive responsibilities and tight schedules. Traditional classroom-based training that requires officers to attend programs for several consecutive weeks often creates significant staff shortages that adversely impact upon a department's capacity to sustain an appropriate level of staffing on the streets and in station houses. However, Kiley (1998) asserts that while scheduling conflicts, time constraints, and operational concerns impact on even the most critical advanced training needs, administrators can develop alternative training methods that work within these conflicts.
In-service education for officers is often structured around emerging issues or even problems that are identified in police work. For example, some departments have offered courses in multiculturalism or sensitivity training when confronted with charges of racial or ethnic bias. Others have offered anger management programming, courses on supervision and psychology, and courses on law enforcement techniques and procedures. However, many departments lack the resources needed for developing and implementing an effective, comprehensive, ongoing professional development initiative.
With the advent of distance education programming and curriculum software packages that allow students in many different disciplines or subject areas to learn online or with a personal computer, even in-service training for police officers can be customized (Kiley, 1998). Online programs that are operated by either the police department or in conjunction with a local college or uni...