Police Officer Training Program Components

The training is composed of 6 (six) core elements and involves speakers and teens and is customized to respond to the findings of the assessment. The training relies on accepted adult education practices, including a multimedia approach, active involvement of officers in discussions, and peer learning opportunities whereby officers demonstrate to their colleagues what strategies have worked well for them.

Core Training Components:

Legal Aspects of Police Involvement with Youth

State law and Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act
Special focus on Miranda warning case law
Special focus on interrogation of juvenile suspects
Review of Department Regulations for working with youth

Demographic Overview & Implications for Teens’ Behavior

Provision of relevant statistics and data indicating the contedxt in which youth are living;
Description of service inventory and availability of services to youth and families.

Cultural Issues Affecting Teens/Adult Youth Interactions

Analysis of messages competing with law and order
Analysis of perceptions of youth in American culture
Analysis of perceptions of police in American culture
Impacts of cultural on perceptions of police authority

Psychological & Developmental Understanding of Teen Behaviors

Highlights of neuro-scientific research explaining teen brain development and consequences on teen behavior;
Exploration of assumption that teen behavior is always “intentional”;
Examination of teen tendency to resist authority, risk taking, and intensive connection to peers;
Demonstration through videos of top 5 mental health issues teens present; how to recognize and interact with youth presenting them.

Strategies for Asserting Authority & Getting Compliance from Teens

Presentation of results of youth survey to officers
Insights officers can bring to a situation to de-escalate power struggles and confrontation
Psychological tactics officers can use with teens to reduce confrontations

Trying it on For Size---Role Plays with Youth

Teens respond to different approaches to policing and explain why they respond the way they do.

Training Logistics

Class Size:	Optimally 35 officers in each class
Participants:	Officers in the Academy Experienced Officers Command Staff Community Youth Workers
Duration:	Determined by assessment, offered quarterly, semi-annually, and annually; Six to seven 45-minute modules per training day
Materials:	Power point presentations, videos, popular films to illustrate behavior, manual, hand-outs, summary of highlights, reading lists, etc.
Speakers:	Officers Psychiatrists Subject experts Community-based youth workers Teens
Evaluation:	Baseline survey of officers and youth Final evaluation of training by officers