Police Academy Training, Performance, and Learning

O’Neill, John; O’Neill, Dawn A.; Weed, Katelyn; Hartman, Mark E.; Spence, William; Lewinski, William J.

doi:10.1007/s40617-018-00317-2

Research Article
Published: 18 December 2018

Police Academy Training, Performance, and Learning

John O’Neill¹,
Dawn A. O’Neill¹,
Katelyn Weed²,
Mark E. Hartman³,
William Spence¹ &
William J. Lewinski¹

Behavior Analysis in Practice volume 12, pages 353–372 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

We conducted empirical analyses of training at 3 large regional police academies in the United States. We objectively examined the performance and learning of 3 classes, a total of 115 cadets, across 3 representative training approaches to defensive and control tactics. Experiment 1 examined the content and effects of single-session or block training across 8 weeks during the academy. Experiment 2 examined the content and effects of spaced sessions with small-group practice and scenario-based feedback across 8 weeks during the academy. Experiment 3 examined the content and effect of block training with scenario-based feedback across 15 weeks during the academy. Experiment 3 also demonstrated the impact of performance feedback on instructor behavior and cadet performance during the academy and 16 weeks after graduation. We provide recommendations and a call for research based on the performance and learning literature, grounded in behavioral science.

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24 January 2019
The original version of this article was corrected to use the correct version of Fig. 2.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the police academy cadets, instructors, and administration for their participation in research and dedication to their profession. The authors also thank Emily J. Novak for her contributions in data collection and inter-observer agreement.

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Authors and Affiliations

Division of Research, Force Science® Institute, Ltd., Mankato, MN, 56001, USA
John O’Neill, Dawn A. O’Neill, William Spence & William J. Lewinski
Human Performance Department, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN, 56001, USA
Katelyn Weed
Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IO, 50011, USA
Mark E. Hartman

Authors

John O’Neill
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Dawn A. O’Neill
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Katelyn Weed
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Mark E. Hartman
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William Spence
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William J. Lewinski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John O’Neill.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

John O’Neill declares that he has no conflict of interest. Dawn A. O’Neill declares that she has no conflict of interest. Katelyn Weed declares that she has no conflict of interest. Mark E. Hartman declares that he has no conflict of interest. William R. Spence declares that he has no conflict of interest. William J. Lewinski declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The original version of this article was corrected to use the correct version of Figure 2.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Task analyses for skills in Experiment 1 are shown in Tables 4 (pressure point), 5 (disarming), and 6 (kick).

Table 4 Mandibular angle pressure point steps and substeps

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Table 5 Rear disarming of firearm steps and substeps

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Table 6 Front snap kick steps and substeps

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Appendix 2

Task analyses for skills in Experiment 2 are shown in Tables 7 (handcuffing) and 8 (kick).

Table 7 Rear-approach kneeling handcuff steps and substeps

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Table 8 Front snap kick steps and substeps

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Appendix 3

Task analyses for skills in Experiment 3 are shown in Tables 9 (disarming), 10 (baton strike), and 11 (pressure point).

Table 9 Rear disarming steps and substeps

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Table 10 Common peroneal baton strike steps and substeps

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Table 11 Infraorbital pressure point steps and substeps

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Table 1 Distribution of time and repetitions dedicated to each component of training for mandibular angle pressure point and rear disarming of firearm (Experiment 1)

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Table 2 Distribution of time and repetitions (average across groups) dedicated to each component of training for rear-approach kneeling handcuff (Experiment 2)

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Table 3 Distribution of time and repetitions dedicated to each component of training for common peroneal baton strike and rear disarming of firearm during initial and performance feedback (PF) trainings (Experiment 3)

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O’Neill, J., O’Neill, D.A., Weed, K. et al. Police Academy Training, Performance, and Learning. Behav Analysis Practice 12, 353–372 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-00317-2

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Published: 18 December 2018
Issue Date: 17 June 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-00317-2

Keywords

Law enforcement
Learning
Performance
Police
Training

Abstract

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24 January 2019

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Acknowledgements

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Authors and Affiliations

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Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Ethical Approval

Informed Consent

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Appendices

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

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