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### **New Standards Improve the Quality and Accessibility of Law Enforcement Training**

 April 2020 | Volume 13 | Issue 4

Though training for fire and medical professionals has  long had to meet established standards of quality to merit certification, there  have been no national standards for law enforcement training until lately. Each  state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) organization has had its unique  process and criteria for awarding in-service or continuing education credit. These  processes ranged from a complete review of training curriculum in a few states  to no review at all in others. As a result, officers received training of varying  degrees of quality, some of it in poor or outdated programs that exposed them  and their departments to a host of serious problems, including civil  litigation.  

 To change this situation and ensure a high standard of  training throughout the nation, members of the International Association of  Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) collaborated with  POST organizations throughout the country to develop the National Certification  Program (NCP). 

#####  Designed to Establish  High National Standards of Quality

Launched in 2015, the NCP was designed to establish and  disseminate national certification standards for all vendor-provided criminal  justice training, both in a classroom and online. Moreover, the standards set  by the NCP have been developed to meet or exceed all current state requirements,  thereby ensuring that all vendor-provided training would be accepted by every  participating POST organization for in-service or advanced training credit.

 To develop these national certification standards, IADLEST  employs subject matter experts and curriculum development specialists with  extensive experience in law enforcement, professionals who were referred by  POST organizations, and other training entities. Once they have been  interviewed and accepted into the program, all of these reviewers must attend  and pass an IADLEST training course and mentoring program.

 The program’s subject matter experts review the  curricula, whether developed by vendors or law enforcement agencies, for  currency, accuracy,  and comprehensiveness, applying the standards required for effective online and  in-person training methods and providing feedback for any necessary course  improvements. As well as the course content, subject matter  experts will also review supporting materials such as course manuals,  instructor lesson plans, audiovisual aids, and test instruments. 

#####  Simplifying Access  to Certified Training Courses 

 In addition to being able to rely on the quality of the  training their officers receive, department leaders or trainers will have an  easier time finding it. The IADLEST NCP simplifies access to training by aggregating  certified courses in a national training catalog. This not only allows  departments to easily search locations throughout the nation for courses from providers  that meet the NCP standards but can also reduce costs and improve efficiency by  allowing training managers to comparison shop for their training needs. 

IADLEST Executive Director Mike Becar says, “The NCP seal  will make it easier to select training programs that they know have been  critically and independently examined to meet the threshold required for national  endorsement.” 

#####  A High Standard for  Curriculum Quality and Provider Training

But despite the NCP’s high threshold for  national certification, IADLEST’s requirements are not intended to make a  course difficult to pass. Their goal is to help training providers improve the  quality and effectiveness of their courses. IADLEST often works with providers who have initially failed certification  to provide feedback that will help them meet NCP  standards.

Joe Wolf, Federal  Programs Manager for the business training provider Wicklander-Zulawski &  Associates, says, “The NCP certification process is thorough and tough. It sets  a high bar for training development, content, support, and delivery. However,  the criteria for success are clearly established and easy to understand. The  NCP staff have been tremendous collaborators and advisors. Our training would  never have reached the standard of excellence we’ve achieved without their  assistance and commitment.” 

##### Benefits to  Officers, Agencies, and Training Providers

 NCP’s  impact has been widespread. Law enforcement agencies and their officers,  training providers, state POSTs, and training academies have all benefited. In  addition to the convenience of the IADLEST National Training  Catalog, which  allows officers and their training managers to shop for the courses they need,  the NCP has an online portal which allows officers ongoing access to their  training records.

 This portal  also streamlines the process of reporting officer training compliance to state  POSTs, whose directors can be assured  that the training has met their state’s requirements. 

 Academy  directors, who have a keen interest in ensuring that the training they provide  complies with nationally accepted standards, will be able to submit their courses  for national certification and be assured that any NCP course they host will comply  with the new national standards.

 Training  providers can also benefit from the NCP certification process by ensuring that  their training programs comply with recognized best practices and can be  marketed with the NCP seal of quality. In addition, they too will enjoy the  convenience of the NCP eLearning management system by  being able to submit their materials to one national portal for certification review and processing, saving them the time  and effort of having to submit their courses to each POST agency. 

#####  Growing Adoption of the National  Certification Program

 Law  enforcement administrators and organizations from around the country have been  quick to recognize these benefits. So far, thirty-six states have adopted the  program, with two (Idaho and Nevada) mandating that training provided for  in-service credit be NCP certified. The Major County Sheriffs’ Association has  also endorsed the National Certification Program. The President of the MCSA,  Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, stated, “As an association dedicated to the continuing  education of our members, we are very happy to embrace a new, and very high  standard, for law enforcement training.”

 Due to this kind of recognition by both training providers  and law enforcement leaders, as well as endorsement from POST and Academy  Directors, the number of NCP-certified providers has increased dramatically in  recent months. To meet the growing interest in gaining certification, IADLEST  is training and adding new reviewers regularly, to enlarge the staff to 200  qualified reviewers and a larger number of certified courses by the end of 2020.  With this effort, these new standards will improve the quality and  accessibility of law enforcement training for officers throughout the country.

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