After eleven weeks of basic mandate training, the GPSTC-Forsyth Academy held a graduation on Friday, September 23, 2016 for the qualified cadets. 13WMAZ featured the basic mandate graduation.
Click the link below to read more about 13WMAZ’s feature:
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/5-new-officers-headed-to-warner-robins-police/324870184
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If you’re interested in explosion investigations, this is the class for you!
The Georgia Police Academy is offering Urban Post-Blast Investigations at the bomb range on Georgia Public Safety Training Center’s main campus in Forsyth, GA, October 24 through October 28. This five-day course will be instructed by explosives experts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).
Urban Post-Blast Investigations will provide students with an introduction to explosives and improvised explosive devices. An explosives demonstration will be performed to provide student awareness of destructive potentials. Course topics will include explosive materials investigations, fragmentation analysis, and awareness of secondary devices.
At the end of the course, students complete a practical exercise requiring the post-blast processing of multiple IED crime scenes. Extended outdoor practical exercises are performed during the course. Students should bring professional clothing, appropriate for the outdoor environment, based on anticipated weather conditions.
Prerequisite: Students must be employed by a local, state or federal public safety agency. Non-law enforcement certified applicants with pending felony charges or convictions are prohibited from attendance. The course coordinator may require production of a criminal history record prior to attendance for non-LEO certified applicants.
Seats are limited for this action-packed course. Register today! http://access.gpstc.org/
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GPSTC is offering the highly sought after Criminal Procedure course October 31st through November 4th. Through classroom presentation and discussion, this course provides Georgia officers with an overview of the Constitution and Bill of Rights as it applies to law enforcement, with emphasis on the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th Amendments.
Additional topics include police-citizen contacts, warrantless searches and seizures, lineups and pre-trial identifications, and interviews, confessions and the Miranda warnings. This course concludes with a legal update and guidance for new and frequently utilized statutes in Georgia Title 16 – Crimes and Offenses and Title 17 – Criminal Procedure.
Special Note: This is a core course for P.O.S.T Intermediate Certification.
To secure your seat, register now! http://access.gpstc.org/student/student/register-student.jsp?coursenumber=LPAA16485
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The Georgia Police Academy is offering the Internal Affairs Investigations course the week of November 14-18, 2016. The course will be held at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center Forsyth campus.
Through classroom presentation and discussion, this course provides Georgia officers with an overview of the Constitution and Bill of Rights as it applies to law enforcement, with emphasis on the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 14th Amendments.
This course is intended for those investigators and administrators tasked with the responsibility of performing internal investigations. Some topics to be discussed in the course are police officers’ rights, criminal liability, civil liability, Garrity v. New Jersey, Title 7, and administrative rights and duties.
Prerequisite: The applicant must be a sworn, certified peace officer currently employed full time by a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency.
Seats are limited; register now!
http://access.gpstc.org/student/classes/register?courseNumber=LPAA16643
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The Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth, Georgia is pleased to announce that the Georgia Police Academy has received two training grants from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS).
The first grant is a $527,201.13 training grant. The grant will begin October 1, 2016 and run through September 30, 2017. The program will help finance the advanced DUI/Impaired Driving Training programs for all state and local law enforcement agencies within the state of Georgia.
The Drug Recognition Expert, DUI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing programs provide law enforcement officers in the field with the training and knowledge to arrest and successfully prosecute offenders. “The ultimate goal of our program is to prevent the needless injuries and deaths that are directly attributed to impaired drivers,” said GPSTC Program Manager Jonathan Fuss.
The second grant is a $44,005.12 training grant. The program will help finance the Speed Detection & Enforcement training programs for all state and local law enforcement agencies within the state of Georgia. The Speed Detection & Enforcement programs provide law enforcement officers in the field with the training and knowledge to proactively enforce speed laws and successfully prosecute offenders.
Both grants will begin October 1, 2016 and run through September 20, 2017. “The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is committed to keeping everyone safe on our roads and highways, from the smallest precious cargo to the most seasoned drivers,” said GOHS Director Harris Blackwood. “This grant will help GPSTC keep Georgians safer on our roadways.”
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Whether you’re training Tactical Operators, Patrol Officers, or Drug Enforcement Units, the Basic Tactical Shield Instructor course will help you become more proficient as a ballistic shield operator and instructor. This intensive three-day Safariland course provides instructors with the techniques and skills required to train their department’s personnel while operating with a ballistic shield. Students will learn drills, shooting techniques, and tactics for the ballistic shield officer, while being required to make presentations, supervise range drills and develop course(s) of fire.
On the first day, fundamentals and individual shooting skills will be covered. The second day focuses on individual/team techniques and drills, including stacking, officer-down rescues, approaching doorways, threshold evaluation, port-and-cover window tactics, and stairway and hallway considerations. The third day is a half-day (morning only) devoted to students completing the course requirements, including firearms qualification, a written exam, courses of fire, and classroom presentations. Students will be evaluated on their knowledge of the topic, instructional skills and safety considerations.
Courseware, the booklet and CD, will be provided. However, students will need to provide full-duty, tactical gear/armor, including ballistic helmet (tactical), appropriate range attire, duty gear, armor and ballistic helmet (patrol), eye and ear protection, ballistic shield with viewport (if you have one available), handgun and three magazines, 200 rounds of handgun ammunition, gas mask/carrier, pen or pencil, and notepad.
Prerequisites: Basic firearms proficiency and instructor background preferred. The Safariland Training Group provides instruction to sworn law-enforcement officers, correctional personnel, or active military personnel only. There is a tuition charge for this course that must be paid to Safariland. Students must register with Safariland and GPSTC.
Location: Forsyth, GA
Date: January 23-25, 2017
Host: GPSTC
Host Address: 1000 Indian Springs Drive, Forsyth, GA 31029
Duration: 2.5 days
Tuition: $395.00
POST Hours: 24
Safariland Contact Number: (800) 347-1200
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Officer-involved shootings have multiplied through the years. Central Georgia has been specifically influenced by officer-involved shootings. In Macon, GA, an officer responded to a shoplifting call, and Larry Daniel Matthews was shot and killed. In Forysth, GA, Richard Treadwell was shot but not killed. Treadwell threatened the officers with his weapon.
Captain David Freeland, Bibb County Sheriff’s Training Academy, explains that officers aim to hit their target, if they feel threatened or feel like someone else’s life is threatened.
As part of the response to officer-involved shootings, GPSTC Forsyth cadets learn de-escalation techniques. Tim Melton, GPSTC Forsyth Academy Manager, explains that de-escalation is important because “if we can use our words, if we can use our body language to de-escalate this person then we’ll do that but time doesn’t offer that. Somebody’s in jeopardy we have to be able to use the force that the law says we can, justify it, and just do the right things.” In order to ensure a quality education for the cadets, Melton roles-plays with them. Role-playing keeps the cadets on their toes. This is especially important since all circumstances are different in each situation.
Melton mentions, “We’ll ty out de-escalation techniques. We’ll try to communicate with them and we’ll create some distance. We’ll use open gestures. All the things we try to do in order to try to create a dialogue with a person, but if the person’s an active threat to someone else or to the officer, then force is justified.” Melton explains that cadets are taught other techniques before being taught to pull the trigger.
For more information, click the link: http://www.13wmaz.com/mb/news/local/what-kind-of-training-do-local-officers-get/341859677
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The Georgia Public Safety Training Center proudly announces the “Student Registration Online Learning Management System” project received top honors in Georgia’s 2016 Technology Innovation Showcase.
On September 29, 2016, a special event was hosted in Atlanta, GA, as part of the Georgia Digital Government Summit. Eighteen projects from 12 state and local agencies were reviewed for the 2016 showcase. According to the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA), nominations are evaluated based on the following criteria: “level of innovationin addressing a specific business problem, significance to improving business processes and operating efficiency, significance to financial savings or cost avoidance, significance to enhancing service delivery to external or internal customers.”
GPSTC acknowledges the need for training on an annual basis—online or classroom-based. Situations are always changing, and training keeps public safety personnel prepared. The Student Registration Online Learning Management System project focused on online training. Traditional classroom time can be stressful for students and agencies. Therefore, online training is becoming an efficient alternative.
GTA explains that GPSTC developed an online learning management solution (LMS) to “enhance the online delivery of public safety training and enable other state agencies to use its LMS to host their own unique online training, manage enrollment, and create additional course offerings.” GPSTC is now allowing other agencies to use similar training techniques. The training techniques are being shared with the Department of Public Health’s Office of EMS and Trauma, the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Community Supervision.
The LMS helps students complete the appropriate steps in chronological order. GTA notes: “For more interactive blocks of instruction, the GPSTC integrated its solution with a popular open-source LMS product that allows for student discussion, submission of assignments, quizzes and detailed student activity reporting.”
For online training courses at GPSTC, students are in charge of their own account and choose which courses to attend. After logging in, students can register for online training courses. The agency administrators can easily monitor the student’s progress since students are listed on agency rosters. GTA explains: “After a student completes a required block of instruction, proof of training is uploaded to other state agency systems for purposes of regulatory reporting, and public safety personnel are not required to provide additional proof of training to meet annual requirements.”
For more information about other projects honored in Georgia’s 2016 Technology Innovation Showcase, click here.
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ATV use in the public safety community is on the rise. The Georgia Public Safety Training Center is offering two separate Basic ATV Operators Courses that will address safe operations of these vehicles. These two classes will be held on December 20 and December 21.
This basic course offers novice operators an opportunity to learn inspection and operation techniques for safe use. This course provides public safety ATV users information and hands-on training that covers how to operate an ATV safely in the most common applications.
Additional information:
Students accepted into the course will need to bring the following ATV safety equipment: helmet, goggles (unless the helmet has a wind screen), long pants, and over-the-ankle boots. Rain gear, gloves, and long sleeves may be needed, depending on weather. A personal hydration device (camelback, etc.) is recommended as well.
Seats are limited for this ATV course.
To register for December 20th, click here.
To register for December 21st, click here.
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The Georgia Public Safety Training Center is now offering a TASER course for anyone employed with a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency and is designated to carry and use a TASER on duty. The course is designed to certify the user in the use of the TASER Conducted Electrical Weapon (CEW), specifically the X26.
It will provide a brief overview of CEW technology, medical safety, and use in tactical considerations. Students will experience the effects of the TASER and get the chance to deploy the TASER in various practical applications. TASER exposure is mandatory for this course.
Additional Information: Students must bring duty gear (minus firearm, ammo, OC spray, baton). Since the student will be assigned a TASER for in-class use, an agency supplied TASER is optional. Comfortable clothes should be worn for the duration of this course.
Seats are filling for this course. Click here to see the course offerings!
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Smyrna Police Distributor Inc. proudly presents the Inaugural Law Enforcement Shoot.
Shoot, touch, and feel products from other vendors! During the event, over $5000 in prizes will be given away from Lock Perfection, Hornady, Head Down Products, Valhalla Rifleworks Co., Streamlight, Remington, Telor Tactical, Trijicon, Surefire, Mosseberg, Safariland, Blauer, Beretta, and S.P.D.
Some give-aways will be flashlight prizes, gift cards, holsters, ballistic demos, free trigger job, night sights, glock pistols, AR-15, and a shotgun.
Be sure to register through S.P.D. to be included in the raffle and lunch. To contact S.P.D., you must email Kerry Alexander at kerryalexander@spdist.com or Nick Wallace at nickwallace@spdist.com.
Location: Forsyth, GA
Date: December 2, 2016
Time: 8am to 2pm
Host: GPSTC
Host Address: 1000 Indian Springs Drive, Forsyth, GA 31029
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Specialized Patrol Techniques is being offered on December 5, 2016 at GPSTC’s main campus in Forsyth. This course provides peace officers with a working knowledge of the current techniques of traditional and specialized patrol programs as well as information on current and future trends in patrol service. Some topics to be included, but not limited to, are: the history of police patrol, strategies for effective police patrol, police and citizen encounters, recognizing implicit bias, transportation options, specialized patrol units, and surviving a career in police patrol.
Special Notes: This course is required for the P.O.S.T. Advanced Certification.
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Missing Children Seminar for CEO’s and Missing Children: Dynamics & Response are facilitated by the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children as a partnership between with the National Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, and GPSTC is proud to bring this training to Georgia.
Special Notes: Even though you must register through GPSTC too, you must have an approved application from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to attend the courses.
Since these opportunities don’t come around often, seats are filling fast; register now!
If you have any questions, please email Emily McKeon, elmckeon@ncmec.org or Kim Taylor, kdtaylor@ncmec.org.
For more information on National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Missing Children Seminar for CEO’s, click here.
For more information on National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Missing Children: Dynamics & Response, click here.
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The Georgia Public Safety Training Center is offering Tactical Hancuffing on March 6. The Tactical Handcuffing training course is designed for public safety officers to reduce the potential of injury and liability risk when lawfully restraining and controlling an aggressive subject.
Special Notes: Students need to bring a student manual, pencil, personal protections, flash light, handcuffs with key, duty gear (without ammo/firearm, OC, TASER, or baton), towel, and water.
This course will fill fast so register now!
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The TASER course is designed to certify the user in the use of the TASER Conducted Electrical Weapon (CEW), specifically the X26. A brief overview of CEW technology, medical safety, and tactical considerations will be covered. The effects of the TASER and deploying the TASER in various practical applications will be included as well. TASER exposure is mandatory.
Special Notes: Students must bring duty gear (minus firearm, ammo, OC spray, and baton). An agency supplied TASER is optional since the student will be assigned a TASER for in-class use.
Seats are filling fast; register now to secure a seat!
For more information about these courses, click here.
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The Georgia Public Safety Training Center is preparing for potentially severe winter weather impacting the northern portions of the state. We realize that the weather could impact students who live in those areas. However, the training center plans to remain open and begin classes on Monday, January 9 as scheduled.
The Course Coordinators responsible for the courses beginning on Monday will continue to monitor the weather over the weekend. All students enrolled in these courses should monitor the weather as well and periodically check the GPSTC website and/or social media for current updates. The Course Coordinator will advise students of any potential changes in the schedule by email on Sunday, January 8.
Any student who determines he or she will not be able to attend class on Monday should contact the Course Coordinator for further instructions.
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The Georgia Police Academy is now offering monthly courses for A.L.E.R.R.T. Terrorism Response Tactics Active Shooter Level 1. These courses will be held at GPSTC’s main campus in Forsyth.
A.L.E.R.R.T. Terrorism Response Tactics Active Shooter Level 1 is an adoption of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (A.L.E.R.R.T.) program created by Texas State University – San Marcos, promoted by the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation. This course is designed for state and local law enforcement officers, tactical officers, firearms instructors, and school resource officers who will respond to any type of active shooter event.
Violent tragedies in our nation’s schools changed the response and training protocols for our first responding police officers to active shooter events. This paradigm shift away from reliance on specialized SWAT and tactical teams to resolve critical, in-progress violent homicidal acts has created a new, aggressive response capability by our nation’s true first responders: the patrol officer.
Tested under fire and repeatedly proven to save lives, this swift and effective patrol response protocol is the standard for American law enforcement officers. Terrorist organizations around the world have identified the active shooter/small-arms attack model as a viable scenario to bring violent chaos and destruction in furtherance of their ideological ideals.
The attacks in Mumbai, India, in November 2008 and the Fort Hood, Texas, attack in November 2009 serve as blueprints for terrorist groups to duplicate in the United States and abroad. Not only must our first responders be trained and prepared for a single gunman in a school, mall, or public gathering, but they must also be prepared to fight well-trained, committed terrorists simultaneously attacking their community on multiple fronts.
The A.L.E.R.R.T. Program was developed with the basic goal of providing proven tactical training to first responders in order to better protect their communities and save lives. The training, which must be affordable for all who need it, must be relevant, standardized, and constantly evaluated to ensure that the latest terrorist threats are addressed and planned for. It encompasses realistic force-on-force scenarios to actually prepare first responders to act, not simply have an awareness of this clear and present threat. Additionally, those delivering this training must be veteran field officers, with personal boots on the ground life experience in the realities of this new kind of terrorism that threatens our communities.
Special Notes: Students should bring Duty Gear or Tactical gear, including ballistic vest, which would be worn in an actual Active Shooter incident. This course uses Simunition; therefore, the student will need to bring protection such as long sleeve shirts or jacket. Head and throat protection will be provided. On day two of this course, students should not wear anything identifying them as Law Enforcement. Students should bring snacks and a refillable water container due to limited breaks.
Click here to see the course offerings and register!
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The Georgia Police Academy is offering Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Regulatory, Registration and Licensing Requirements for Public Safety Entities on February 21, 2017 at the main GPSTC campus.
This course is limited to individuals who currently have actual participation in the operation of their agency’s UAS program. Since this course is an express compliance program, it is not open to those who have already registered their UAS and/or received a Certificate of Waiver or authorization from the GAA. This is a “quick start” primer on getting an agency’s UAS program up and running lawfully.
This course will deal exclusively with what agencies need to do to get themselves up and running, with fully legitimized, fully operational and fully federally compliant and authorized UAS programs. Working within the FAA’s highly structured authorization framework, this class will take the student from zero knowledge to fully informed, as to what is allowed from a general UAS operations perspective as well as what is required specifically, for lawful operation of a public entity’s UAS.
Utilizing primarily the FAA’s own resources, both online and in print form, the students will be walked through the process of establishing an IACRA account, registering their agency’s UAS, applying for the agency Certificate of Authorization/Waiver (COA), and submitting their Part 107 sUAS Remote Pilot in Command application. Some more topics included are: the Federal Aviation Administration and its role in regulating UAS and sUAS operations, Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR), crew resource management/human factors, weather, pilot requirements, flight planning, preflight inspections, aircraft performance, components of the National Airspace System, safety and accident reporting/notification requirements, recordkeeping, and systems maintenance. NO UAS are to be brought to this class.
ALL Students MUST:
-bring the factory documentation (owner’s manual, performance data, operational guide, battery Information, pilot and/or aircraft logbook, etc.) for each of their agency’s Unmanned Aircraft with them.
-provide documentation of their agency’s Unmanned Aircraft’s Manufacturer, Model Name/Designation, Serial Number, and if available, the Date of Manufacture, for each UAS to be registered during the class.
Seats are limited for this course; register here now!
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On September 8, 2016, Governor Nathan Deal announced a new law enforcement reform initiative. This initiative includes an expansion of specific training courses required by the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (POST) as part of the continuing education requirements for sworn peace officers.
The purpose of this new curriculum is to provide state and local officers with the tools needed to build relationships within their communities.
During his announcement, Governor Deal called on the Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC) to develop and deliver, by January 1, 2017, four new courses related to the use of force, de-escalation, improving cultural competence, and improving relations between the police and the community. Chris Wigginton, GPSTC Director, is proud to announce that his staff has answered the Governor’s call.
Starting January 1, 2017, GPSTC launched four new online, on-demand courses:
These engaging and highly interactive courses provide students the opportunity to apply the concepts taught within the course as they move from one instructional unit to the next.
Please note: Use of Force and De-escalation Options for Gaining Compliance is required of all sworn law enforcement officers in the state. The other courses are electives, chosen by the officer. Officers must complete at least one elective course every year. These courses are inclusive of, not in addition to, the 20-hour continuing education required by O.C.G.A. §35-8-21.
For more information about each course, or to register, visit Independent Online Courses page.
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GPSTC is proud to announce Angela Bowen, Instructional Services Division Manager, graduated from APCO International’s Certified Public-Safety Executive Program. Bowen accomplished the prestigious CPE professional designation, and is one of 22 people who have earned it.
Cheryl Greathouse, GPSTC Instructional Services Division Director and member of the APCO International Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, remarks: “We recognized the need for executive leadership training within our industry. Working closely with our members and experts in leadership and organizational development, we designed the CPE Program to give public safety professions as unparalleled experience that is specific to our industry.”
In July 2016, APCO’s CPE program began for public safety communications professionals who wish to achieve executive leadership positions. The CPE Program is only available twice a year. The CPE program uses distinguished leadership professionals and esteemed academic resources to teach management versus leadership, models/theories of leadership, leadership styles, public safety leadership issues, and executing and managing change. This program consists of two 12-week online courses and attendance at the APCO headquarters, in Daytona Beach, Florida, for a nine-day capstone project.
For more information on APCO’s CPE Program, click here.
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