Five Simple Questions: What every Academy Director should be asking

These 5 simple questions will help you reflect on your academy focus and ensure the officers you train will be equipped to serve their communities.

Author’s note: The thoughts from this article stem from the last three years of interface, observation of direct interaction with police training in Phoenix, and in speaking with officers and training staffs across our county. They are shared through the lens of an educator. Many of these same questions are applicable to any training or teaching environment. But I believe they are critical in training law enforcement personnel because of the transitional nature of police work. I hope you find this useful.

Introduction

Over the past three years, I have heard countless officers and police executives discuss the value of training. Well, we all know the things we value should take priority. They should involve resources and influence. They should be the cornerstone of everything we do. In my former life as a school executive, it would be incongruous for me to say that I value education and instruction, and not hire the very best teachers for my schools. 

That being said, I would like to pose five questions that every academy director should ask themselves. I want this article to be one of deep reflection.  One that will open the mind to change. Almost every aspect of teaching and learning has transformed over the past 20 years, with the sole exception of police training. This is particularly true in recruit training. That is a subject of another article. This article focuses on the “MUST be in place.” There is nothing profound about these questions, but the answers I have received along the way are what makes these questions so essential. They are the catalyst of why things must change. My ask of you is to reflect of them and be honest with yourself in your evaluations. Here are the five simple questions:

1)    Is your academy staff focused on teaching, leading and mentorship?

This is the first question and most important question. There is a plethora of research on students’ achievement and it all boils down to “who the teacher is.” Think about your favorite subject in school, it probably became that in large part because of the teacher.  I hear officers in Phoenix talk about a “crim law” instructor they had at the academy 25 years ago!  (By the way, that retired officer, Bob Fuller, still teaches as a reserve!) It takes four years of college, a semester of student teaching, and usually about three to five years to prepare a teacher for today’s classroom. Why would we give officers anything less if we truly value what they do?

• Have you selected instructors who are committed to teaching or are they officers who are good at their job (homicide detectives) who teach that subject?

• Do you consistently train Basic Training Sergeants and RTO’s in the fundamentals and pedagogy of teaching?

• Do you have on-going conversations about instruction and learning?  Are the instructors focused on teaching recruits or teaching material?

• Are they full-time at your academy, so they can immerse themselves in the “Art and Science of Instructing?”

• Do you keep them in their instructor role long enough for them to master this craft?

• We have over 50 different topics to teach in most academies, some are 2-hours blocks, some are 80-hour blocks. Is their fidelity in the instructor ranks or are we expecting recruits to adjust to the teaching inconsistencies of many different instructor expectations and personalities?

• Do you evaluate instructors regularly? Formal and recruit evaluations of instructors?

2)     Is your academy designed on what is best for the recruit?

 This sounds so simple, but really think about this question.

• When the schedule is made, are classes sequenced correctly?

• Are the tests aligned with the classes that have been completed?

• Do you make accommodation for different learning styles?

• How do you address failures in certain areas of the curriculum?

• Do you have an environment of elimination or inclusion in your Academy?

There is no doubt that the recruits of today are different. They learn differently, and they process information much differently than we did. The soon to be officers under the age of 25 do not know life without a smart phone. They likely took classes on-line and some of them may have attained a 4-year degree without ever attending an in-person class! That is the way it is, and I don’t believe it is something that will change. Learning modalities have changed, and COVID did not help. Why then do we still have academy recruits sit in class, with desks in rows, with instructors who speak at them and expect a deep level of learning?

3)    Do you teach performance skills throughout your academy curriculum?

Skills such as defensive tactics, firearms, physical conditioning, tactical training should be taught throughout the academy schedule and should be combined whenever possible. Your physical conditioning program should be aligned with the moves that are emphasized in defensive tactics.  Gone are the days of just running the track for conditioning. I have asked recruits the day prior to graduation if they are in better shape now than when they started? Most said NO.  That is because those schedules were front loaded for PC. What message does this send? If we want officers to make physical conditioning an integral part of their life, we must prioritize this and embed it in the training, not use it as a method for recruit elimination the first six weeks.

Any skill that we truly want to learn, takes time and repetition. To master a skill, you need repetition over time. I was a former high school basketball coach. If I wanted to teach a player to shoot a free-throw, I would not do that the first week of practice and hope that when he got fouled in a game, he would be able to perform? It would be something we do every day!

4)    Is your academy aligned with your Department focus?

• Does your Department have a mission/vision and value statement?  Is it taught in the Academy? 

• Does your Academy have a common language? Core values? Belief statement?

• Are the things we do and say aligned with that?

I have spoken to academy directors who say that the number one skill they want their graduating officers to master is the ability to communicate with the public. Yet, when I observe academy classes, most do not openly allow for recruits to talk, collaborate, work together and ask questions?  How can you expect soon to be officers to talk to our public in a crisis if they are not allowed to speak freely in a learning environment?

5)    Is your training environment ONE CONTINUM of GROWTH?

How many of you have every heard this before? “Forget everything you learned in the academy; this is the way we do it on the streets?” I believe the answer is, all of us!

This is one of the most cringe worthy statements ever made. No other profession devalues training and education like in police academies! Can you imagine a doctor performing surgery say to his intern, “Forget everything you learned in med school, this is the way we do it once surgery starts!” Or a teacher or coach? 

This statement truly devalues everything the very purpose and goal of police academies. The statement should be: “Let’s take everything you learned in the academy and apply it to our work on the streets!”

• Does the training environment have a seamless transition from basic training, to field training, to solo officer?

• Does each component of training have the same evaluation instrument? Same common language, same goals?

• Are the officers remediated in areas of weakness?

• Are their opportunities for growth in all areas?

• Are we intentional about which officers we place with certain FTO’s and in certain areas of the city?

Conclusion

I am not suggesting any of this is easy or quick. I am suggesting that teaching and training MUST evolve if we are going to adhere to the demands of police work and to the needs of those potentially interested in law enforcement as a profession. If current trends continue, many departments in large cities will not be able to maintain a police force capable of the demands. I hope these 5 simple questions will help you reflect on your academy focus and ensure the officers we train will be equipped to serve our communities. In doing so, I believe we will reduce academy and field training attrition (which in some places is as high as 50%) and in turn, increase our numbers in patrol.

About the author: FPI Fellow Dr. Bob Rossi is the Leadership and Curriculum Administrator at the Phoenix Police Academy in Phoenix, AZ. He came to the Academy after almost 40 years in higher education. Read his full bio here.