Audience response technology can be an effective part of police training

Police officers face tough decisions on the street every day, and law enforcement training programs are designed to help them work out their responses ahead of time before real-life situations can turn deadly.

When the life of an officer or civilian is on the line, effective training becomes vastly more important that it would in a typical business training environment. As a result, law enforcement trainers seek out those systems and processes that will ensure that trainees understand and can put into practice what they’re learning.
Many of these training programs are made up of several parts, including an active simulation module that forces trainees to make split-second decisions, and a classroom module that includes lectures from a seasoned law enforcement professional whose role is to guide recruits and trainees through scenarios they might encounter on the job.

But just like any training presentation, classroom lessons in managing crime scenes, de-escalation and shoot-don’t shoot decision making can get bogged down by traditional the lecturer-learner structure and the absence of learner engagement that would naturally be present in an active simulation.
Because a lapse in learner attention could mean tragedy on the streets, many law enforcement trainers have turned to audience response technology to accomplish the rote tasks of taking attendance, while allowing the trainer to call on trainees by name in even large classes by accessing the computerized roster.

On a more advanced level, audience response technology can help make presentations more engaging, interactive and, in the end, more effective. Trainers have the capacity to create games, stories and quizzes, with trainee responses displayed in real time. Often used in ‘lessons learned’ post-quiz, a trainer can evaluate the knowledge taken away from a simulation, or practical/field experience.
This instantaneous feedback allows the trainer to assess understanding right away and immediately review information that was unclear or wasn’t processed effectively, ensuring that when officers are practicing on the shooting range or their lives are really on the line, they’ve already received the best training possible.