Training Command - Queensland Police Service - Queensland ...

Sitting on a bench seat in
the back of a police issue
XB Falcon being driven by
a recruit was one of the
first introductions Sergeant
Lindsay McGinn
had to QPS driver
training—and he
was only a child.
Sergeant
McGinn has fond
memories of
going to work
with his dad who
was a driving
instructor in
1970. The late
Sergeant Gordon
McGinn was one of the first
QPS driving instructors to set
the foundations for the driver
course that is an important
part of recruit training.
“We would head out to
the Caboolture Raceway
which was a cow paddock,”
Sergeant McGinn said.
“The recruits had to negotiate
around logs that were laid out
as the obstacles. I learnt all
about system vehicle control
from a very young age.”
Sergeant McGinn has been
with the Queensland Police
Service (QPS) Academy for
seven years as an instructor
for the Driver Trainer Unit
and said it was a coincidence
to be following in his dad’s
footsteps, but an easy
decision to make.
His dad may have taught him
how to drive, but Sergeant
McGinn said a lot had
changed since the times of
cow paddocks.
“Recruits have a two-week
block of driver training where
they learn the basic defensive
driver skills to meet the
expectations of a policing
environment,” Sergeant
McGinn said.
“We cover various driving
situations which take place
in the city and in a country
environment, and also ensure
the recruits can change a
tyre.”
Recruits learn the skills of
driving using the system of
vehicle control, which enables
them to scan environments
appropriately to detect crime
while driving, and engage
appropriate driving standards
when lights and sirens are
required.
“There are no tricks to driver
training; we want our recruits
to be able to scan and identify
hazards by looking as far
ahead as possible,” Sergeant
McGinn said.
“The further you look ahead
the better you will
be. Scanning,
having a driving
plan involving a
continuous risk
assessment, and
executing your
plan all come
under the system
of vehicle control.”
Although Sergeant
McGinn isn’t the
type of instructor
to trick his recruits,
he does have a pet
hate.
“Everyone, not just
recruits, needs to make sure
they are in the correct road
position,” Sergeant McGinn
said.
“The majority of drivers drive
in the centre of the lane. You
need to maximise your road
position and keep to the left
or right side depending on
the hazard being negotiated.
This will allow extra space to
manoeuvre if there is a hazard
on the road or if you need an
area to brake.”
The majority of driver training
takes place at the Driver
Training Centre at Wacol,
which was built for the
exclusive use of QPS officers
and recruits.
The track consists of a
simulated road circuit of
asphalt, gravel and tar roads,
manoeuvre areas and urban
streetscape.
Many years of planning and
design culminated in the
construction of the $12 million
track in 2010.
One of the implementations
from an Education and
Training Command review
was to allow academy
instructors from the PROVE
program to be seconded to
an operational environment to
update their skills.
“I am currently working at
Boondall Police Station on
general duties and it is good
to be in the real world work
environment to refresh my
policing skills,” Sergeant
McGinn said.
“The job of first response
policing hasn’t changed.
It’s still the fundamentals
of communication with the
public, however the support
tools are the elements that
have changed.”
Sergeant McGinn is also using
his time to see if any of his
driver training techniques
need to be modified to fit into
current policing trends.
“I will be making some
recommendations when
I get back to the Driver
Training Unit to see if we can
incorporate different vehicles,
such as vans, into the current
training block,” Sergeant
McGinn said.
“This is one of the advantages
of being an instructor on
secondment—we get to
assess our own teaching
in a real world policing
environment.”
By Michelle Fleming,
Media and Public Affairs Branch
PoliceBulletin363 21