Chief of Police Message - November 2015
November 01, 2015
LAPD Supports and Salutes Our Veterans
The LAPD continues its proud history of supporting the men and women who have answered the nation’s call to service. You are true patriots who we owe a profound amount of gratitude to. The Department recognizes the sacrifices made by veterans and your families.
The Department employs 2,274 sworn and 184 civilian personnel who have served in the Armed Forces and have worked to support peace and freedom around the world. Of our veterans, 272 currently serve in the Guard or Reserve. At any given time, the Department has at least 10 to 20 service members conducting Annual Training or attending military related schooling. Currently, the Department has five members on long term military leave in support of a contingency operation both here and abroad.
On Tuesday November 10, 2015, at 10:00 a.m, I invite you to attend our annual Marine Corps Birthday Celebration and Veteran’s Day Commemoration held at Deaton Hall. We will recognize the contributions of our service men and women who wear two uniforms and risk their life in the City and abroad to keep us safe. They are deserving of our constant gratitude and support. Keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers as we enter the holiday season.
Upcoming Training Courses
Staying informed and well-trained is essential to each of our functions within the Department. I wanted to take a moment and tell everyone about the upcoming Use of Force (UOF) Update training that every officer will be required to attend. I also want to talk about our new Police Science Leadership (PSL) Course “Building the Community Leader” that will be given to officers just prior to the end of their probationary period.
The UOF Update training day consists of two-sessions. The first session is a review of the National Discussion on Building Public Trust and Preservation of Life. The remainder of the training will consist of constitutional law, UOF policy, UOF de-escalation, command and control, force-on-force scenarios and a review of less-lethal force options. During the training, less-lethal deployment stations will be set up to allow officers to fire all Department approved less-lethal devices (bean-bag shotgun, TASER, OC Spray, etc.) to develop their skill sets in handling these weapons. Overall, it should be an exciting training day that will test the abilities of all of our officers in handling difficult UOF scenarios. By now, everyone should have attended the National Discussion on Building Public Trust and Preservation of Life. The training focused on how we can continue to build trust which in turn will allow us to be more effective in the communities we serve. It also covered the importance of Constitutional Policing, Use of Force overview, and reducing the potential for violence during police contacts involving people suffering from mental illness.
The Department is the first law enforcement agency in the State to gain California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) approval to use stress vest technology in perishable skills training. Officers will be fitted with the stress vest technology and be required to handle real-life scenarios with Training Division instructors acting as suspects.
I am also very excited about the development and implementation (November 2015) of our new PSL I Course “Building the Community Leader.” For many years, our training managers wanted to create a course for probationary officers that graduated from the Academy and now had some real-life practical experience in the field. This would be an opportune time to bring them back to the Academy as a class and expose them to advanced leadership skills, investigative skills, command and control, and innovative topics such as Fair and Impartial Policing and Procedural Justice. These probationary officers will also attend the critically acclaimed “Mental Health Intervention Training” created in partnership between our Mental Evaluation Unit and the County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health.
These are exciting times as the Department is about to roll out some extremely important training. I hope that the tremendous investment in developing these courses has a positive outcome and that all of you enjoy the training and gain the skills needed to be successful in these critical encounters.
Be safe out there!
Charlie
Twitter @LAPDChiefBeck
Instagram @LAPDChiefCharlieBeck
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