Training - What We Are Doing
While Penn State police officers currently receive ongoing mandatory and specialized training throughout their careers as mentioned here. We will always remain committed to enhancing and improving our training efforts.
Some of those ongoing efforts include:
Police One Academy Training
All police officers, security, and other staff, including lead administrators within the department, are enrolled in the PoliceOne Academy, which allows for mandatory monthly online trainings in a wide array of subjects.
Initially, prioritized training consists of accreditation and high-risk training topics, such as:
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Cultural Awareness,
- Implicit Bias Policing
- Anti-Bias Based Policing
- Response to Mental Health and Illness
- American Disabilities Act training
- Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
- Domestic Violence
- Use-of-Force
- Officer Safety
- Active Shooter
- Distracted Driving
University Police and Public Safety will continue these mandatory monthly training assignments for all police officers, security, and other staff, including lead administrators within the department.
Use of Force
While University Police and Public Safety currently exceeds the mandatory training requirements surrounding Use of Force, we are committed to also improving all training surrounding this topic.
It is our intention to work towards implementing a more holistic approach which would allow for scenario based training focused on all aspects of use of force.
UPPS will partner with subject matter experts along with our current team of highly trained and professional instructors to research and create recommendations on how to implement this holistic training.
Upon implementation of this newly developed program, we are confident UPPS will become a leader in all aspects of use of force training.
Training Data
All aggregate training data will be available and published for the year 2020 by March 2021 and released annually.
In 2020, police officers and Assistant Police Services Officers (APSO) completed training in 24 different areas for a total of 7,844 hours.
Note, the "Lead Team" is a group of high-level managers withing University Police and Public Safety and "APSO" stands for assistant police services officers.
| Topic | Training Hours per Assignee | Total Training Hours Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Firearms | 4 hours per police officer/APSO | 1,376 hours |
| Taser | 5 hours per officer | 805 hours |
| OC/Pepper Spray | 3 hours per police officer/APSO | 516 hours |
| Chemical Weapons | 1 hour per police officer | 161 hours |
| Defensive Tactics | 7 hours per police officer/APSO | 1,204 hours |
| Expandable Baton | 7 hours per police officer/APSO | 1,204 hours |
| Specialized Impact Munitions | 1 hour per police officer | 161 hours |
| PoliceOne Topics | 5.5 hours per police officer/APSO | 961 hours |
| Policy Review | 6 hours per police officer/APSO | 1,032 hours |
| Officer Requested Course | 8 hours | |
| Training | Assigned |
|---|---|
| Responding to People with Mental Illness | All UPPS Members |
| Cutural Awareness and Diversity Overview | All UPPS Members |
| Implicit Bias | All UPPS Members |
| Understanding and Responding to Excited Delirium Calls | Sworn Officers, APSO, Dispatch |
| Anti-Bias Training for Law Enforcement | Sworn Officers, APSO, Dispatch |
| Crowd Control: Demonstrator Tactics | Sworn Officers |
| De-Escalation and Minimizing Use of Force | Sworn Officers |
| Verbal De-Escalation Skills | Sworn Officers |
| Use of Force | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team, Dispatch |
| Arrest, Search & Seizure (Fourth Amendment) | Sworn Officers and Lead Team |
| Report Writing from a Lawyer's Perspective | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team, Dispatch and Security Officers |
| Hate Crimes Training for Law Enforcement | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team, Dispatch and Security Officers |
| Shaping an Ethical Workplace Culture | All groups |
| Interview and Interrogation Techniques | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team and Security Officers |
| Investigative Skills 2 | Sworn Officers |
| Vehicle Safety | Sworn Officers |
| Recognizing the Indicators of Sovereign Citizens | Sworn Officers, Lead Team, APSO, Security Officers |
| Sovereign Citizen Movement-CBS Hit Piece | Sworn Officers, Lead Team, APSO, Security Officers |
| Sovereign Citizens and Law Enforcement | Sworn Officers, Lead Team, APSO, Security Officers |
| The Importance of Communication in Law Enforcement | Sworn Officers, APSO, Security Officers, and Dispatch |
| Crisis Management | All personnel |
| Use of Less Lethal Force | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team, and Security Officers |
| Liability Issues in Use of Force | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team, and Security Officers |
| The Misuse of Miranda Rights | Sworn Officers and Lead Team |
| Fitness & Nutrition 1 | All personnel |
| Community Policing | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team, Security Officers, and Dispatch |
| Generational Differences | All personnel |
| Communication Skills 1 | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team, Dispatch, Non-Sworn Officers, Security Officers |
| Dealing with Stress | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team, Dispatch, Non-Sworn Officers, Security Officers |
| Evidence Collection, Control, and Storage | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team |
| The Right to Photograph and Record in Public | Sworn Officers, APSO, Lead Team |