Define and describe the various types of in-service training and why they are important.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary, but students should demonstrate an understanding of in-service training, which consists of continuing education training that occurs annually for all seasoned officers following their first year of employment. This allows officers to keep current with new laws and new developments in the field. In-service training may include cultural competency, peace officer training to become certified to carry a weapon (discussed in next section), in-depth cognitive-behavioral treatment techniques, recognizing child abuse/neglect, and empathy training.The American Correctional Association recommends that seasoned officers receive 40 hours of annual training. For officers supervising juveniles, only 30 states require some annual training of about 30 hours per year. A recent study was able to show that when juvenile probation officers were trained with peer coaches in evidence-based techniques such as reflective listening, affirmations, and motivational interviewing, the training itself tied directly to officers responding differently to juveniles.These training modules seem to provide officers with core correctional practices that help offenders reduce criminal thinking patterns, cognitive distortions, and behavioral change. The training helped officers develop tolerance for the change process (Labrecque, Smith, Schweitzer, & Thompson, 2013), and the training in core correctional practices lowered recidivism of supervised offenders (Chadwick, Dewolf, & Serin, 2015).