Training Command - Queensland Police Service - Queensland ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Policing Skills Program teaches thought before action Long gone are the days when Queensland Police Service (QPS) officers were appraised on their skills and skills alone. Their ability to shoot at a paper target, apply a wrist-lock to an offender or strike a baton correctly are still required tactical skills, however it is their capacity to make ethical decisions, justify, and articulate their actions that are true indicators of their aptitude as a police officer. Introduced in 1996, the Situational Use of Force (SUOF) Model has found its way into all levels of policing and assists in the process of taking skills learnt in training and applying them to an incident as it evolves. Training officers and recruits in each of the 11 ‘use of force’ options available is overseen by the Policing Skills Program, based at the QPS Academy at Oxley. This program provides initial training for recruits and develops ongoing training for operational police. The areas covered by the Policing Skills Program include Operational Skills and Tactics (OST), Firearms and Officers Safety Training (FOST) and Physical Skills Education (PSE). The curriculum is developed with input from policing regions across the state, and addresses recommendations from Crime and Misconduct Commission reviews and Coronial investigations. Inspector Robyn Crozier, Manager of the Policing Skills Program, said the curriculum evolved to reflect best practice and community expectations. “From our perspective there has been a significant shift in Operational Skills and Tactics training in the last 10 to 15 years,” Inspector Crozier said. “Skill proficiency in any use of force application is only a small part of what we teach. It is another step from being able to safely use that skill to then be able to articulate and justify those actions in context of legislation and QPS policy and procedures.” When confronted with a situation where force is needed, the SUOF Model gives officers a decision making tool that can be applied to all situations and ensures they are operating within the legislative framework. Officers must comply with the model’s guidelines—that the use of force must be authorised, justified, reasonable, proportionate, appropriate, legally defensible, tactically sound and effective. “Officers learn to continuously re-assess the threat, looking at the risks and circumstances surrounding the incident,” Inspector Crozier said. “Where needed, officers have a number of options available to them and can escalate or de-escalate the use of force depending on the situation. In the end, the aim is to regain control and safety for all parties by bringing the situation to an appropriate resolution using the minimum amount of force necessary.” Recruits choose appropriate options from the Situational Use of Force Model to resolve scenario-based situations, taken from real-life policing examples. Decision making under stress can be a hard skill to master, and the Policing Skills Program relies heavily on scenario-based training to teach officers to be able to justify a decision to use force. 14 PoliceBulletin363
“Some officers find it difficult to articulate their course of action. Realistically, what is under greater scrutiny than the application of force is what was going on in their head—how they determined that course of action,” Inspector Crozier said. “If an officer decided to use a taser, what was the decision making process? What was the risk, what was the threat, and was this considered to be good professional practice? These are some of the questions QPS officers must ask themselves and be accountable for afterwards.” Inspector Crozier said people often thought that use of force was limited to physical means. However, tactical communication—communication used to achieve a resolution—is strictly reinforced as mandatory in their use of force process. “Sometimes the mere fact that the officer is present, in uniform, in a marked vehicle, and acting with the authority of his or her position is enough to influence behaviour without physically using force,” she said. By Emilee Woolcock, Media and Public Affairs Branch Tactical Withdrawal Restraining Accoutrement Presence Situational Containment Baton Situational Use of Force (SUOF) Model Open Hand Tactics Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray Closed Hand Tactics Communication Skills Conducted Energy Weapon (Taser) Firearms Scenario focus for Operational Skills and Tactics Photos by Sergeant Clint Hanson, Police Photographic Section One of the most difficult challenges for a police officer or recruit is to establish a degree of control over another person, to deter them from negative behaviour and to negotiate, using their verbal skills and their ‘presence’ and without laying a hand on them. Taking the SUOF Model into consideration, the facilitators of the Operational Skills and Tactics (OST) Program have developed a program of dynamic interactive scenariobased training. Senior Sergeant Damien Hayden, Officer-in-Charge of OST, said this form of practical training helped develop competence in the use of force process. “Scenario-based training makes trainees, whether recruits or operational officers, work harder to use the correct techniques and to justify and articulate their decision,” Senior Sergeant Hayden said. “The scenarios have been taken from real life situations and are designed for maximum impact on learning. Scenario-based training is also a valid form of stress inoculation—we can see how officers perform and recognise where their strengths and weaknesses lie.” All officers up to and including the rank of Senior Sergeant undertake OST training annually. The training PoliceBulletin363 15
Page 1 and 2: issue no. 363 october 2011 Educatio
Page 3 and 4: FROM COMMISSIONER ATKINSON Evolving
Page 5 and 6: C O N T E N T S Message from Commis
Page 7 and 8: FROM NEIL ROBERTS MP MINISTER FOR P
Page 9 and 10: The PROVE curriculum has also under
Page 11 and 12: Australia Police, but I was too sho
Page 13: Friday, and have the option of livi
Page 17 and 18: A recruit speaks into his radio, ar
Page 19 and 20: Shaping futures with Northern educa
Page 21 and 22: Sitting on a bench seat in the back
Page 23 and 24: The First Year Constable program is
Page 25 and 26: An important addition to the reside
Page 27 and 28: The third phase of detective traini
Page 29 and 30: to progress automatically to the ra
Page 31 and 32: Creating leaders who make a differe
Page 33 and 34: Senior leaders step-up The step fro
Page 35 and 36: Staff members benefit from training
Page 37 and 38: The team behind ETSP hard at work i
Page 39: Searching for a new car? Limited Of

Training Command - Queensland Police Service - Queensland ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?