Police Training Trends in Current Environment

POUGHKEEPSIE – On November 18th the Dutchess County Association of Chiefs of Police conducted a training course focused on police trends in the current environment.

Even in the best of times policing is no simple task, and it is even more challenging at the current time. This eight-hour course covered the following topics:

• Use of Force in the current environment

• The First Amendment- current trends

• Qualified Immunity

• The Police, the Press, & Social Media

Attended by 89 Law Enforcement Officers from 26 local, county, city, state, and federal agencies, and was held at Poughkeepsie Elks Lodge #275 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

The Instructor, Eric Daigle, is from Daigle Law Group which is a leading law firm specializing in management consulting services in support and development of effective and constitutional policing practices. It also provides law enforcement training, policies and procedures, orders, manuals and training bulletins to the community.

President of the Dutchess County Chiefs of Police Association, Special Agent (Ret) Nicholas J. Valhos states, “In these uncertain times there is nothing more valuable at critical moments than policing. Our profession of policing seems to be undergoing an unusual number of challenges, with no end in sight. Agencies across this country are struggling to identify and apply best practices to new or revised approaches for police officer training. Police leaders are focusing their attention and efforts to achieve both short and long-term goals for their departments in these demanding times. Some of these areas are use of force and de-escalation of force, training law enforcement on disinformation, social media, modern technology, and most importantly building the community’s trust and community-based policing.”

Valhos further states, “It is important for the public to be aware that we are moving forward in all aspects of the current police environment of policing, and we are continuing to face the challenges of policing today, keeping Dutchess County communities and our police officers safe throughout this great nation.”

With police departments across the nation under stress they have been challenged to maintain appropriate training programs to ensure officers are ready for split-second decisions while on duty.

“We, the Police are here to Protect and Serve you,” Valhos concluded.