AN OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITY OF THE COMMUNITY POLICING TRAINING INSTITUTE Dr. Andra Bannister, Director

COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICES (COPS) Two decades of research and experimentation in police patrol led to creation of the COPS Office as part of the 1994 Crime Bill The intent of COPS was to…  Employ 100,000 state and local police officers  Provide training and technical assistance  Provide support for experimentation in innovative applications of community policing  Providing evaluation of community policing

As part of the training responsibility, COPS solicited competitive proposals to create Regional Training Institutes The intent was to…  Stimulate agencies to adopt community policing  Provide resources to help the transition to community policing to be faster and more effective REGIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTES

Each Institute had several requirements:  To enlist at least one Police Partner  To enlist at least one Community Partner  To define a service region  To address a specific training focus and need  To create a unique training delivery system  To provide training to meet needs in the region

REGIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTES COPS awarded 35 Institute grants nationwide to both universities and police departments Wichita State University received the contract to serve Kansas and Nebraska on June 1, 1997 The formal name of the WSU Project is the: REGIONAL COMMUNITY POLICING TRAINING INSTITUTE (CPTI)

TRAINING FOCUS Some may say, “We have been doing community policing all along.”  We would agree—many departments are Our philosophy is that we hope we can help you improve on your current practice through…  Sharing what other departments are doing  Bringing to you the most current research  Helping formalize the practice where community policing is largely informal

TRAINING FOCUS For departments already doing community policing we hope to provide information on…  Developing the infrastructure—Examples: > Deployment > Performance evaluation > Training  Refining police practice—Such as: > New programs and initiatives > Shared experiences of other agencies

POLICE PARTNER COPS required that the Police Partner…  Have a “demonstrable record of successful community policing for three years”  Have expertise to share in the training program  Commit to assisting in the training Our Police Partners are:  Wichita Police Department  Lincoln Police Department  Norfolk, NE Police Department  Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center  Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center

COMMUNITY PARTNER COPS requires that the Community Partner…  Be willing to participate in project activities  Represent the citizens’ perspectives of issues  Be willing to provide substantive input Our Community Partners are:  Wichita Crime Commission  Big Brothers/Big Sisters  Mediation Council

SERVICE REGION Upon the advice of COPS, for Fiscal Year the WSU-CPTI service area is…  All of the state of Kansas  Nebraska south of the North Platte River In Fiscal Year we included training for the remainder of Nebraska, including a repeat of the first year’s training Without additional funding, the Institute is providing training throughout both states

TRAINING FOCUS The subjects and training needs will be directed toward…  Rural law enforcement agencies  Specific emphasis on problems and issues facing law enforcement in Kansas and Nebraska

TRAINING NEEDS Training needs are being determined in two ways…  A Needs Assessment survey to all Chiefs and Sheriffs in Kansas and Nebraska in order to quantitatively determine perceived training needs and voids   Focus Groups consisting of Chiefs and Sheriffs from the defined target areas in Kansas and Nebraska to “fine tune” training subjects and approaches

TRAINING DELIVERY SYSTEM Component 1—Comprehensive Internet Home Page as a training and technical assistance resource, to include…  Training curricula/outlines by recognized experts and based on needs assessment  Policy Papers and related unique information  Abstracts/summaries of current related research  Links to community policing and resource sites  Bibliography  Discussion Bulletin Board

TRAINING DELIVERY SYSTEM Component 2—Train-the Trainer  To be held in Wichita  Travel expense for those in attendance paid for by the grant  Four sessions; total of 125 officers  Will focus on > Substantive community policing issues > Use of the Internet > Adult education > Teaching via Distance Education

TRAINING DELIVERY SYSTEM Component 3—Distance Education  Simultaneous transmission to various sites in Kansas and Nebraska  Four hour session  Monitored in local sites by officers who attended Component 2 training  Will feature recognized experts discussing contemporary community policing issues related to rural police agencies

BASIS FOR TRAINING TOPICS Needs Assessment Focus Groups (both regional and meeting with Chiefs and Sheriffs in Wichita) Feedback during training sessions (trends of requested topics) Relevant topical issues in the field Advice from our partners

THE WICHITA STATE RCPI: ACCOMPLISHMENTS Completion of a training needs assessment in Kansas and Nebraska Creation and continued development of a comprehensive Internet home page for training and research assistance Provided technical assistance to police agencies in both states on a wide range of topics (over 2000 technical assistance requests handled) Provided training at no cost to agencies

THE WICHITA STATE RCPI: TRAINING Training completed or scheduled…  5 Train-the-Trainer sessions (approximately 200 officers)  Four Distance Education sessions (over 200 officers)  Community Policing Conference (approximately 300)  Other training programs (approximately 400) Planned training  Distance education  Regional on-site training  Mini-conferences  Train-the-Trainer session  Annual Community Policing Conference  Domestic Violence Conference and Regional Training

INTERNET HOME PAGE Abstracts/summaries of current related research Links to community policing and resource web sites Resource organizations to assist police agencies Training curricula/outlines by recognized experts and based on needs assessment Bibliography Video clips Search engines listserv

FUTURE ISSUES Expanding the training base of all officers in the region  Both community policing training and Internet training Providing more training in one or two day sessions throughout the region (i.e., bringing the training to the departments) Continuous development and expansion of the Project’s Internet Home Page

DISTANCE EDUCATION EXPECTATIONS OF FACILITATORS Assist in room set-up Assist in session registration Welcome the participants Manage the training administrative matters Provide an introduction to the training session Facilitate discussion of the topic after the teleconference Provide a wrap-up for the session Submit forms and materials to the RCPI office at WSU

Dr. Andra Bannister, Director Community Policing Training Institute Lindquist Hall Wichita State University Wichita, KS Toll Free: Fax: Visit our Web Site At: