Explain the importance of the following training topics: crisis intervention, first aid, firearms training, ethics, domestic violence, stress management, and terrorism

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Crisis intervention is a course that is need for a wide range of police calls including domestic violence, mental health events and dealing with victims and survivors of crime. Here officers are taught how to deal with people in a range of crises.

Firearms training will encompass the use of deadly and physical force by police officers. The use of deadly force often becomes a controversial topic if there are questions by the public about a "police shooting." A standard course includes a number of topics besides shooting such as decision making and application of legal and department policies. Training should be offered on all weapons that are issued to an officer such as pistol, rifle, semi-automatic rifle and shotgun.

Ethics at one time was a standalone course which focused on being good and staying away from corrupt activities. Today it is a course that focuses on doing the right thing or making the right decision when confronted with a situation. Ethical issues are also brought up in other courses such as firearms training, dealing with victims, cultural diversity and others. In basic and supervisory training, students are presented with decisions based on their jobs and they are required to define the choices that can be made.

Domestic violence is a course that has increased in hours around the country and deals with crime related situations that occur in a variety of household situations including traditional marriage, same-sex marriage, and live– in arrangements with and without children. A domestic violence training course will focus on officer safety, taking charge of a situation and taking action or referral to criminal or family courts, or social agencies. Department polices, which include pro-arrest procedures based on a state's domestic violence response act, are also presented.

First aid is an important topic as police officers are first on the scene in a variety of medical situations. A wide range of topics is presented in a standard first responder course such as opening airways, stopping bleeding and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and dealing with people under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Included in these courses is limiting direct exposure to blood-borne pathogens and taking universal precautions.

Stress management is a course that deals with the officer, supervisor, or administrator. As discussed in Chapter 12, there is organization stress and individual stress which are caused by a number of factors: shift work, need to repress emotions, lack of promotions, frustration with the police organization and public sentiment, fear, family issues and many other factors. Training of this nature introduces police personnel to the concept and ways that stress can be controlled. Additionally officers need to be physical fit and have good eating and sleeping habits.

Terrorism courses run a wide gamut and include group identification, intelligence gathering, threat analysis, responding to incidents, security of facilities, document fraud and legal and ethical issues related to post 9.11 events. Training programs of this nature are offered on the federal, state and local level. Many states have created state facilities specifically for terrorism training topics.