Divisions | Division of Training and Education | New Haven Police Academy
The Plan: Educating For Community Policing
In 1990, the New Haven Police Department embarked on a comprehensive process to become a fully dedicated community-policing agency. Organization changes were strategic and programmatic. It also required a new way of teaching policing.
New Haven's traditional training academy was disbanded and then restructured in 1992 to the newly conceived Division of Training and Education. It was charged with the mandate of educating police officers that would work together with neighborhood residents to maintain order legally, humanely, respectfully and equitably. The job of police officer was changing and a different type of individual with a precise set of strengths, especially communication skills, was needed.
A university-styled, community oriented police academy was developed. Its faculty is multidisciplinary, culturally diverse, and requires the highest academic standards in the state.
The Pool: Recruitment Outreach
The premise is that the single most important step in the development of a good officer is the initial one - identifying the right candidate. From the beginning recruitment goals have been clear. While all qualified individuals are encouraged to apply, mature, service-oriented New Haven residents from populations, which have been traditionally undeserved in the community, are especially sought.
Community outreach done in partnership with community members is also done. After more than a decade of building relationships with the many educational institutions and community agencies in our area, we now have the luxury of going directly to the people we serve for opinions, advice, and participation in recruitment campaigns. A Recruitment Outreach Committee, selected by the chief and chaired by the Division of Training and Education, works closely with the Office of Human Resources to hold aggressive recruitment outreach efforts. The Training Division produces outreach materials in both English and Spanish and the Recruitment Outreach Committee meets with groups and makes presentations. Outreach is also carried out through classified ads, colleges, the Internet, clergy bulletins, billboards, bumper stickers, fitness centers, job fairs, cultural events, daycare facilities, etc.
The Process: New Haven Police Academy
As the department was defining its new community policing strategies, the Academy translated these strategies into an interactive, community-oriented curriculum, which took students out of the classroom and into the neighborhoods. As much as possible, the traditional methods of lecture and memorization have been replaced. Teaching teams are interdisciplinary, composed, for of example of police officers, prosecutors, and survivors of the offense being studied. Victim advocates and service providers from the appropriate fields complete the teams.
The academy is held over a six-month period. It is followed by a six-to-eight week Field Training Officer (FTO) program, matching new graduates with specially trained veteran officers who act as mentors and on-the-job instructors. Minimum passing grade for all academy examinations, assignment and projects is 80%, making it the most rigorous and selective school for police officer candidates in the state.
In addition to a curriculum of traditional subjects such as constitutional law, use of force decision making, defensive tactics, firearms, penal code and motor vehicle law, students learn about the history, culture and values of New Haven's many different populations. Other courses include Milestones in Civil Rights Legislation, Non-Violent Management of Aggressive Behavior, Alternative Dispute Resolution, HIV/AIDS, the New Haven Needle Exchange Program, Sexual Harassment, Bias and Hate Crimes, and Individuals with Memory, Hearing and Seizure Disorders. Faculty from our Yale Child Development Community Policing Program helps emphasize the department's commitment to police understanding of child and adolescent behavior.
Inclusive, non-militaristic language is used in all classes, assignments, and publications: students are no longer recruits, cadets or trainees; police department has replaced police force; policemen and women are police officers, positions are staffed rather than manned, and so on.
The Academy Term Project, like much of the academy curriculum, is based on the belief that learning styles differ greatly in adults and a variety of teaching methods are necessary to both transmit information and measure what has been learned. Classes are divided into small groups. Each group participates in structured clinical rotations within the community agencies, in independent research and in classes held onsite in such diverse locations as soup kitchens, battered women's shelters, centers for homeless and runaway youth, HIV/AIDS information clearing houses and substance abuse clinics. Students complete fieldwork supervised by academic advisors from the collaborating agencies; they meet, rather than merely hear about, the wide variety of citizens they are being trained to protect and serve.
Term Projects have developed into one of the most ambitious and valuable of the academy's academic requirements. The research phase of the project is followed by group work with prominent artists who, as faculty advisors, help students process information and present it in visual form. Domestic violence homicide statistics, for example, were translated into a series of "rooms" of women who have been battered. These environments required the observer to walk through areas containing a refrigerator door with a restraining order taped to it, an elegant coffee table with the word HELP traced in a spot of "cocaine," and a child's room with blocks on the floor spelling "Why hit Mommy?" Requiring an "artistic" presentation of hard data is not intended to create police officers who are artists, but to ask students to view information and ideas in a new way, thereby developing skills of observation, interrogation, analysis, problem-solving and communication so vital to police work, and often difficult to cultivate using standard classroom instruction.
In addition to researching and creating a visual representation of their findings, groups make formal presentations to academy faculty, staff and classmates as well as to the public. They defend their conclusions and are formally questioned and tested on the topics. Evaluation is done by a panel of academy faculty and staff. Each group's final grade may count for up to one-third of the final grade point average. To encourage teamwork and trust, also so vital to the job given for which they are being prepared, all members of a given group receive the same project grade.
The Product: Programs, Partnerships and Research
Providing continuing education for both sworn and civilian department members is a part of the Training Division's mission. Every year review training is conducted in state-mandated subject areas such as legislation, firearms re-qualification and sexual assault. At the same time, the Training Division produces a series of state and national conferences to provide opportunities for enhancing the learning process, as well as to create a forum for department and community members to interact with officers and advocates from throughout the country. Inservice participants are tested to ensure comprehension of material presented and all programs are evaluated to help refine what is in place as well as develop new ones.
Inservice Training
Mandated hours have almost tripled the amount required by the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council. Presently, all sworn personnel receive between 24 - 40 hours of Inservice training every year.
Firearms Proficiency and Use of Force Decision Making
Following the guidelines produced by the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council all sworn personnel receive four to five hours of training every year to complete recertification.
College Tuition Reduction and Scholarships
Educational incentive agreements now provide a full 50% reduction in tuition for department members taking classes at the University of New Haven and Albertus Magnus College. Several competitive full and partial scholarships are awarded regularly for UNH courses and through the Connecticut Association of Police Chiefs.
Instructor Development and Certification
Faculty for both the New Haven Police Academy and Inservice classes is drawn from local universities such as Yale, the University of New Haven and Southern Connecticut State University, as well as from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Harvard's JFK School of Government. Instructors are also from the Office of the State's Attorney, the FBI, DEA, and the Connecticut Criminal Law Foundation. Faculties from community agencies are key members of the teaching teams. In addition, the department selects many of its own officers to be trained as certified instructors by the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council in areas such as bias and hate crimes, violence against women, firearms, defensive tactics, domestic violence, youth issues, sexual harassment, investigative techniques, alternative dispute resolution, motor vehicle law, race and gender issues, report writing, alternative sanctions, drug intervention and treatment programs, and gang violence.
Field Training Officer (FTO) and Bicycle Programs
The Training Division arranged for department members to attend Police Mountain Bicycle and Field Training Officer (FTO) instructor certification schools. These trainers have subsequently conducted FTO and bike training certification classes for more than 80 officers.
Domestic Violence Training CD-ROM
With funds granted by the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), the Division of Training and Education produced the first domestic violence computer-training program on CD-ROM, as well as an accompanying instructor's guide.
Racetalk Initiatives/UPenn Law School Research
University of Pennsylvania Law Professors Susan Sturm and Lani Guinier selected the New Haven Police Academy as a research site as part of their national study of police organizations. They were drawn to this department because of its innovative methods for increasing the number of women and minorities and for improving race and gender relations, both within the agency and the community. The Ford Foundation and the Mott Family Foundations fund the research.
Supervisory Leadership Training
As part of a COPS Office Advancing Community Policing grant, the Training Division in conjunction with the department's Strategic Planning and Research Unit developed meaningful and replicable skills development and leadership programs for department supervisors.
Defensive Weapons Training
Since recommending in the early 1990's, the replacement of traditional nightsticks and blackjacks with the more defensively-oriented, versatile and practical PR-24 and CAS-16 batons, the Division of Training and Education has certified and retrained all officers in PR-24 and plainclothes personnel in CAS-16 use. Retraining and refamiliarziation programs are given on an on-going basis.
Academic Internship Program
This program provides both general and individually tailored academic placement programs for students in high school, college, and graduate school. It targets students interested in or conducting research in community policing related issues.
Glock-17 Replacement and Training
During 1997-1998 the Training Division facilitated the replacement of service weapons and magazines for the entire department. Refamiliarization training was conducted for each officer.
Conferences
Events have been produced in collaboration with such community agencies and educational institutions as:
The Yale Child Study Center
The Domestic Violence Training Project
Casa Otoñal
The NAACP
AIDS Project New Haven
The Connecticut Criminal Law Foundation
Connecticut Mental Health Center
The Arts Council of Greater New Haven
The Anti-Defamation League
Yale University and Office of New Haven Affairs
The University of New Haven (UNH)
Albertus Magnus College
Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU)
Quinnipiac College
Hispanos Unidos Contra El SIDA
The Gay Officers' Action League (GOAL)
The Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council
Major conferences include:
Police and the Black Family
Domestic Violence; Rethinking Police and Community Roles
Cops and Kids: the Talk Show
Police and Community Response to Crimes of Bias and Hate
Race, Power, and Community Policing
Community Policing for Youth: Questioning Business as Usual.
INSTITUTIONALIZING AND PROMOTING CULTURAL CHANGE
The Division of Training and Education reports directly to the Chief of Police, an arrangement which allows it to play a major role both in helping formulate department policy and in representing the Chief and the department to outside agencies. Selected policy initiatives and responsibilities include:
Anti-discrimination and Sexual Harassment policy and procedures, codified in General Order 93-2, which describes the department's zero tolerance of discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability status, marital status, and age.
Order Maintenance Training Bulletin 96-1 outlines the legal and historical basis for the department's community policing policy as it relates to officer discretion and authority; it also details the problem-solving process to be used.
Recognition of Outstanding Service described in General Order 95-1 provides for expanded award categories and the production of the poplar police/community award ceremonies.
Request for Training General Order 97-1 simplifies the process of applying for ongoing educational opportunities, providing a fair, equitable and efficient method of selecting and assigning applicants.
First Defense Pepper Spray General Order 93-5 delineates the department's policy and reporting procedures for use of this less-lethal force option with which replaced chemical Mace.
Pursuit Policy General Order 94-2 has been hailed by the national board of Solutions to Tragedies of Police Pursuits (STOPP) as one of the most progressive and safe policies in the country.
General Order Committee membership, through which the Training Division has proposed department policy on the Use of Force, Workplace Violence, Grooming and Equipment, Portable Radio Policies, Domestic Violence Complaints, Department Employees Involved in Domestic Violence Situations, Investigations Concerning Homeless and Mentally Ill Individuals, and Police Response to Situations Involving People with Hearing Impairments.
Academy curriculum which has been featured in venues as diverse as Police Chief Magazine, Law Enforcement News, The New York Times, La Voz, and during Grand Rounds presentations at Yale-New Haven Hospital/Connecticut Mental Health Center, as well as at national conferences sponsored by John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the National Center for Women and Policing. Academy staff and students have also been seen live on a series of CNN News programs.
Emergency Services Unit reinstatement research and recommendations including selection criteria and mandatory training.
Shooting Investigation Team membership.
PR-24 research, recommendations and transition.
Open Range policy recommendations.
Promotional examination research and support.
Domestic violence police policy recommendations to the state assembly.
Lobbying for equity in physical agility testing, where the Training Division in opposing changes in statewide academy entrance requirements. Commonly known as "The Wall," one of these proposed changes has historically resulted in the elimination of women and shorter men from the candidate pool, while not measuring skills that are relevant to the position of police officer.
Recruitment Outreach Committee chairing and membership.
Bias and Hate Crimes Advisory Board initiation, a responsibility subsequently assumed and enhanced by the department's Bias and Hate Crimes Unit.
Gender Equity Committee membership.
Liaison and consultation on training issues for police and community delegations from places as diverse as Utah, Russia, Taiwan, and Moldavia.
