Police train in latest techniques

New teaching cycle quickly gets all officers through the course

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Bella Vista police officer Bobby Warren, left, practices a hold with Sgt. Scott Vanatta, while Sgt. Eric Palmer discusses an arm bar with officer Travis Trammell, and officer Justin Green coaches Master Sgt. Kelly Wallace and officer Terry Dickey.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Bella Vista police officer Bobby Warren, left, practices a hold with Sgt. Scott Vanatta, while Sgt. Eric Palmer discusses an arm bar with officer Travis Trammell, and officer Justin Green coaches Master Sgt. Kelly Wallace and officer Terry Dickey.

Keith Bryant

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The first round of annual training for the Bella Vista Police Department started last week with officers covering a wide array of topics, including controlled force, sexual harassment, less-lethal projectiles, mandated reporters, use of Tasers and use of force.

Bella Vista police Capt. Tim Cook said this is extremely beneficial.

Approximately a decade ago, he said, the department did not have mandated in-house training. To have it now, he said, is a big improvement, because annual refreshers give officers a chance to maintain skills.

"We want to make sure all of our people, all of our officers, have the tools they need to keep our citizens safe," he said.

Lt. Ryan Harmon, who set up the training curriculum, said the course material has to be sent in to the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training -- CLEST -- for approval at least 30 days prior to the training.

The CLEST, he said, certifies all instructors as well. An officer has to take a week-long class to become a standard instructor, he said, and from there can take up specialized training to be certified for specific types of instruction, such as radar, firearms or field sobriety testing. For others, like controlled force and Taser use, instructors get certified through a private company.

For the sessions, he said, he divides the department into thirds, and each week of training is filled with members of one group, who go through a 40-hour training week. The next week, he said, the department will take a week off training, then start up again for the next week.

With this system, he said, the entire department is trained after three cycles.

"That's the way I can do it and still keep officers on the street," he said.

The training, he said, covers sexual harassment each year, and also the use of Tasers, which officers must become re-certified with each year. There's a portion on use of force, he said, which goes over what type of force -- which he said the department has a wide spectrum of -- is warranted in what scenarios. It also covers less-lethal force, which includes projectile weapons designed to be less lethal than firearms, as the name implies.

New for this year, he said, is the inclusion of the Below 100 program, which is focused on officer safety, with a goal of reducing annual officer deaths to 100.

The department also performed mandated reporter training for the first time, he said. Police work, he said, is one of a handful of occupations which is required to report specific things to the state.

"When we deal with issues of child abuse or child neglect," he said, "we are required to report it to the state hotline."

The training, he said, also covers controlled force, including the hand-to-hand combat, ground fighting and takedowns.

Controlled-force training was performed by officer Justin Green.

He said that the new tactics officers learn in this class will help broaden their skill-set and make them more effective if they end up in a scrap.

"The more options we have, the more likely we are to find something that works," he said.

This program, he said, is new. He trained in it with the Little Rock Police Department in August, and he learned a lot that the Bella Vista Police Department wasn't teaching.

He trained officers in mechanical advantage holds, as well as control holds, weapon retention and ground-fighting techniques.

"Obviously," he said, "the most important ground-fighting technique is to stay off the ground."

Harmon said that it's important to use one's head and stay out of trouble. The department rarely has to use force, but he's comfortable knowing Bella Vista officers can look after themselves.

"If the situation arises, we'll handle it," he said. "We do a pretty good job of not having to use force."

General News on 02/01/2017