COMMUNICATIONS TRAINING ADVISORY BOARD Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy Thursday, March 21, 2013

Transcription

1 COMMUNICATIONS TRAINING ADVISORY BOARD Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy Thursday, March 21, 2013 Members Present: Jim Marker, Special Programs Manager, W.L.E.A. Paul Smith, Special Programs Supervisor, W.L.E.A. Dave Harris, Director, W.L.E.A. Brian Brooks, Basic Programs Manager, W.L.E.A. Wayne Mower, Basic Programs Supervisor, W.L.E.A. Sharma Sonntag, Fremont County Sheriff s Office Ron Smith, Campbell County Fire Department Mona Horman, Park County Sheriff s Office Patty Bauer, Wyoming Highway Patrol Heather O Connor, Wyoming Highway Patrol Tim Olsen, D.C.I. Erin Applegarth, Niobrara County Sheriff s Office Ron Casalenda, Douglas Police Department Melissa Stubbs, Newcastle Police Department Jeff Schulz, P.O.S.T. Members absent: Mike Broadhead, Riverton Police Department; Clint Becker, Converse County Sheriff s Office, Bobbi Colvin, Powell Police Department; Mona Horman, Park County Sheriff s Office; Erica Fairbourn, D.C.I.; and Bill Gordon, A.P.C.O. Guests present: Shannon Quenzer, Wyoming Highway Patrol Jim called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. and asked if everyone had received a copy of the minutes from the last meeting. If no one had any additions or corrections that needed to be made he asked to entertain a motion to accept as is. With no comments a motion was made by Jeff and seconded by Sharma with all in favor. Basic Programs Issues Brian informed the board that we lost two of our Custody Control instructors. Ron Hayes who was our lead quit in September and then Shane Clymer who we had hired in November decided to go back to Colorado. When we were in the process of hiring Shane we received about 120 applicants in a three month period and right now we ve had it open for 5 and have only received 43 applications. We did do some testing in February and found a couple of people that we were interested in, but unfortunately one of them backed out. The other one we completed the background on Communications Training Advisory Board Page 1

2 and gave a conditional offer to and he has accepted it and will be starting on March 20 th. Jesse Curtis started out as a detention officer with Laramie County and then went to the Pine Bluffs Police Department for a couple of years and then back to the Laramie County Sheriff s Office. He is a WLEA certified Custody Control Instructor since 2009 so we are fortunate in getting him on board. We think he s going to be a good fit for the Academy and bring a lot of good experience, wealth and knowledge to us. As you know we brought in an outside provider to perform a job task analysis on our Public Safety Communications Personal Basic. Val Lubans with the assistance of an advisory board committee that we put together used the information that came from the job task analysis and implemented some specific changes to the curriculum. Those were to: o Add 5 hours to Radio/Telephone Procedures; o remove the 5 hours for Fire Dispatch & Practical; o remove the 4 hours for Terrorism Indicators; o remove the 4 hours for ICS; o remove the 3 hours for License & Registration; o remove 1 hour of the HAZMAT class and o then add the 24 hour NCIC/WCJIN class to the curriculum. What that would do is change the basic from what currently is a 67 hour course to a 79 hour course. Brian said that in talking with some of the instructors they were not sure that is quite where we needed the time for some of those classes so his recommendation was to hold off on any votes to accept these changes to the curriculum for now. We have said all along that we were not looking at making any changes until the B basic in December. The reason for that is even if we made changes today it would be difficult to implement those for the basic which is coming in within another 2 or 3 weeks. Also, that would give us time to get the instructional objectives to the instructors and let them manipulate the way they want to present their classes. In talking with a couple of the instructors one of the things that they recommended was removing the License & Registration class and then using that time in the other two law classes. This would allow them to address the necessary information that needed to be passed on. Even with the additional 3 hours we may still have to add another hour in order to cover all of the instructional objectives, which may put the basic at 80 hours. Melissa asked if there were any comments on including EMD in the basic. Brian said they did have some pretty good discussions on it but it was decided by all of the committee that they really didn t need it in the basic. They felt that there are resources out there to provide for that. Communications Training Advisory Board Page 2

3 What they did decide was to add the NCIC/WCJIN class in there because they felt it was a necessary block of instruction that needed to be tied to that communications basic. Sharma said that the idea of adding the NCIC/WCJIN class just popped up in the JTA meeting because in speaking with two or three of the supervisors they felt the 40 hour on line was not effective. Being a part of the basic class and having the hands on training they felt they might retain it longer. Patty said that her concern on including NCIC/WCJIN in the curriculum was because it took up such a big block of time and it dictates what you have in terms of variety. She felt that they needed to be exposed more to what is a part of their job. From her perspective and depending upon who you are and your agency, she asked at what point do you send a dispatcher to basic. Some agencies don t send brand new dispatchers and some may not need that NCIC training so that would be her concern on making that such a big block of the training. Dave said he agreed with her and that was some of the concerns with the committee. But we have to ask ourselves what is the intent and purpose of basic training for a new dispatcher? We are faced throughout the state of Wyoming with POST requirements; dispatchers need to attend basic training within two years of employment. So we need to decide what package needs to be offered, whether it s for the new or the seasoned officer. Sharma said that right now it s not dictated that they take the NCIC/WCJIN course. The majority has taken the test and has not had the hands on training. Patty asked Tim if the amount of time for that class could be changed at all? Unfortunately, Tim said that at 24 hours it was at the minimum right now and he felt it would be good putting it into the basic because they (students) don t want to stick around for the training with it being offered separately from the basic. Tim told Patty that she was correct about some of the agencies not making the entries and he knew hers was one of them. But the majority of the departments do, so we have to cover that information. Jeff said that the JTA board did not intentionally cut the hours down for the basic so they could insert the NCIC/WCJIN class but the overwhelming majority of the board said we need that training. Brian added that in the report Val Lubans provided the board he identified that the majority of the committee which consisted of both large and small agencies agreed. Ron Smith said that the Fire Chief s Association would not support taking the Fire Dispatch out of the basic. The last time they surveyed the Chief s they actually wanted the hours increased. Ron questioned who was surveyed; Brian said dispatch personnel and not the fire service. Ron said that there is a huge disconnect from what is provided and what is needed by dispatch to Communications Training Advisory Board Page 3

4 the field units. Brian reassured Ron that Sharma will be taking some additional time in her sections to discuss what the dispatchers needed to know. Ron commented that the Fire Association will be having a meeting in two weeks from now and he said he would bring up what was discussed at this meeting. Brian asked if Ron could get back with him and Sharma after and let them know what their recommendations were. Special Programs Issues Jim provided the board with a copy of the statistics of the training that we had held since the board had last met, course cancellations and the upcoming scheduled classes. From last year during this time period our campus courses delivered were up by 52% and the student population by 199%. We matched our 22 activities on usage from last year but our population went up 113% and these are the same agencies as last year coming in. In partnership with the Wyoming Highway Patrol we have a commitment from them to use the Academy facility more, so we have several dates booked out with them for Probation and Parole has really picked up there training with a couple of new training supervisors. Julie Reuter and Christina Russell have taken over Karen Holland s position and they have been two awesome ladies to work with. Julie is just incredible with her organizational skills and how it s been running here. We ve tried to accommodate the best we can with these additional usage requests and still get our mission done first. Usages are third on the list because obviously law enforcement basic training is first, then our law enforcement advanced training. So we do have a tier effect on how we make decisions on what goes on where and when. We had to cancel 2 of our courses due to low enrollment and 2 others because of lack of instructors to teach them. As Brian had mentioned our lead instructor for Custody Control left the Academy so the Custody Control Instructor course scheduled for December had to be rescheduled and the Basic Law Enforcement Spanish was canceled because one of the instructors absolutely could not make it. With the latter we only had 3 applications so it worked out in the end. With only 7 signed up for the Detention Officer Practical Skills course we have made the decision to go ahead and hold it anyway. Last spring we only had 8 but we went ahead and the reviews were really good and the students and instructors were happy because they got more time in the practical skills. When we revamped that whole schedule it went over very well so we are going to try it again. Communications Training Advisory Board Page 4

5 Peer Support Team is a brand new class that we are offering this spring and Jack Digliani out of Loveland, Colorado will be teaching that. For more information there is a course description out on our website. The Taser X26 and X2 Instructor and Recertification courses have been scheduled again for July. We will continue to offer it every fall if the numbers are there so you can get in state training for your officers. Old Business New Business The following board members terms will expire as of December 31, 2013: Mike Broadhead, Chief, Riverton Police Department Clint Becker, Sheriff, Converse County Sheriff s Office Melissa Stubbs, Newcastle Police Department Mona Horman, Park County Sheriff s Office Ron Smith, Campbell County Fire Department Heather O Connor, Wyoming Highway Patrol Jim asked that they give it some consideration to remain on the board for the next two years and to let him know their decision at the August meeting. With no more business to discuss Ron Smith made the move to adjourn and it was seconded by Ron Casalenda. Next Meeting Date The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 10 a.m. at the Academy. Respectfully submitted, Valerie Sullivan, Secretary to the Board Communications Training Advisory Board Page 5