Over-train until the unfamiliar and complex becomes familiar and routine. For police purposes, this is well-established territory. Over-training to develop ‘muscle memory’ or the ability to func- tion smoothly in complex, high-stress situations is the ‘sine qua non’ of law enforcement training. Offi cer performance while being re- corded will ultimately be subject to the same principles. In a nutshell, helping offi cers mentally adjust to the presence of recording devices will necessitate putting them in the pres- ence of recording devices often enough and long enough for such devices to become a ‘normal’ part of their environment. Occasional training will not suffi ce in this regard because the element of novelty will not be overcome effi ciently. A prolonged feeling of novelty among your offi cers equals more time for potentially problematic behaviors to accumulate. Even if your department does not purchase body cameras to use in the fi eld, it is wise to implement the use of video recording during training so offi cers acclimate to being fi lmed because it is simply our current environment.


On the Risk Management Side Recorded materials must be reviewed and critiqued in a timely manner. Offi cer reactions should be reinforced or corrected as needed. However, don’t allow constructive critiquing to stop with your offi cers. These materials represent a boondoggle of valuable information that can be mined to improve individual offi cer per- formance, training practices, your policies and procedures. However, you can only capitalize on this opportunity if your department takes the time to review and analyze what you’ve got. Any issues that are showing up are likely being repeated in a cumulative fashion, not only by individual offi cers but across units. Sitting on the data wastes valuable time and increases the potential for smallish problems to become very big, if for no other reason than due to volume. This is why professional sports teams review tapes during the week. Without review and correction, the same mistakes will be made next week. Or next month. And guess what? Behavior repeated over time becomes ‘muscle memory’ and very resistant to altera- tion. At the academy and training level, this type of review should be integrated throughout the overall training. This does mean plan- ning ahead, creating a system, and allowing for the time needed for trainers to provide feedback while the training is ongoing. At the operations level, an auditing system is more feasible. Regular, routine and random selection of video to be reviewed provides the most protection for your department from a li- ability perspective, provided the department takes corrective action when the review reveals issues. Having the types of data potentially contained by such records and failing to utilize it for improvements leaves your department vulnerable when third-party review (inevitably) occurs.


The only thing worse than having the data and not reviewing it (from a liability standpoint) is having it, reviewing it, and not tak- ing corrective action in a timely manner when needed. The implied systemic changes needed within a given police department could be large, but the days have passed when offi cers are not on fi lm. Fortunately, model policies are available so you do not need to start from scratch. You do, however, need to start and in doing so align your efforts with the best practices already out there.


On the Performance Side


There are professions with time-honored practices that utilize recording supervisees on the job and using these recordings to- ward skill development. The mental health fi eld happens to be an example. Many psychology and counseling training systems involve some form of recording subordinates as they interact with clients. The recordings are meant for the specifi c purposes of evaluation and training.


In a didactic discussion, both the supervisee and supervisor review the material, fi nd some good and not so good things about the interac- tion, and discuss ways the supervisee can improve for next time. The beauty of this approach lies in the fact that the supervisee is an active part of the process, has an opportunity to fi ll in details that might not be obvious on the tape, and contributes ideas for self-improvement. One critical caveat here…it is important to clearly defi ne this process as skill development and not allow it to easily devolve into a disciplinary ambush. If problems are identifi ed, a reason- able opportunity for improvement (monitored as necessary) should be provided. While it can be challenging to defi ne and implement the boundaries here, these steps are always required when updating your policies and practices so don’t shy away from the effort. Without this buffer, supervisors/offi cers will not trust the process enough to make genuine use of it. Recently, the human resources consulting group, BambooHR, sur- veyed 1,933 employees and supervisors and found only 4 percent con- sidered the typical performance review process good for motivating and engaging employees. Examples given for better approaches in- cluded: open, informal conversations (24 percent), one-on-ones geared toward career path (17 percent), managers listening to ideas and using them (15 percent), and getting more recognition (13 percent). In other words, you are also dealing with an evolving workforce whose attitudes and expectations are pushing the edges around the way performance reviews are conducted. Imagine a process that allows your department to not only respond to the changes being driven by camera technology, but one that allows you to respond to the ways employees are saying will improve their own motivation, performance, and response to being critiqued.


As a leader in your department, you have been here before. Preparing offi cers for the job. Managing risk in a fl uid environ- ment. Finding ways to effectively engage, motivate, and develop employees. These are all familiar territories. Being watched and scrutinized by the community, well, that’s familiar too. The cameras are on but, in many ways, they always have been. Bor- row some ideas from professional sports if you like that anal- ogy better than the mental health one. But do set your mind to leveraging camera technology to your department’s advantage.


Dr. Deborah Ontiveros is a consultant with over 20 years of experience working with organizations and employees. Dr. Ontiveros consults on all levels of policy design, implementation, manager/supervisor training, and day-to-day consulting/counseling. She has spent thousands of hours working with police executives, command staff, front-line supervisors, offi cers and their families. She can be reached at dr.deb@wellconnectcounseling.com.


LaO Post your comments on this story by visiting www.lawandordermag.com www.lawandordermag.com 41


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68