Training Session Descriptions

Training Class Title: Recruiting and Retention

Speaker(s): Dr. Charlie Scheer & Dr. Michael Rossler

About the Class:

Police leadership faces exceptional challenges in managing today's turbulent workforce management environment. The two forces of recruitment and retention require exceptional attention to navigate. These challenges may be worsened due to the lack of evidence detailing what potential applicants understand about police careers, and attention to reasons why employees may leave an agency. This presentation shares information from two studies of workforce management, and one is currently in progress. The first is a five-university survey of undergraduate criminal justice majors, and provides evidence about potential applicants' impressions of recruitment, selection, initial training, and patrol careers. These data sharpen our understanding of applicants' perspectives, informing police leadership about marketing and branding strategies, recruitment and selection efforts, and the nature of the current applicant pool. The second study is a comprehensive survey of police personnel about their impressions of drivers of retention, turnover, and disconnection from their agency or the field entirely. The presentation concludes with a workshop intended to probe what works – and what hasn’t – in police recruitment and retention.

Speakers Bio's:

Dr. Charlie Scheer is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at The University of Southern Mississippi. His research specializations are in the fields of police workforce management, police training, organizational development, and police legitimacy. He has publications on police recruitment and retention strategies, police civil liability, and a national assessment of police training capacities. His research has been published in Police Quarterly, Policing: An International Journal, Sheriff & Deputy, Justice Research and Policy, and Law Enforcement Executive Forum. He also has publications through the RAND Corporation and the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). He has provided briefings at academic and professional conferences such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Conference, Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) Conference on Recruitment and Retention, the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice conference, and the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) Annual Conference. His research projects include an in-progress study of police personnel retention from a national sample of agencies, a comparison of first-line supervisor leadership training programs, a survey of potential police recruits to gauge interest in patrol careers, and an examination of detective and investigations units in the Gulf Coast region. He also is a sworn sheriff’s deputy.

Dr. Michael T. Rossler is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences at Illinois State University. Dr. Rossler completed his Ph.D. in from the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University in addition to a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Saginaw Valley State University and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University. His primary research interests involve police-citizen encounters, police responsiveness, police strategies, and police organizational development. He is also interested in crime analysis and prevention as well as Geographic Information Science (GIS). Dr. Rossler’s dissertation examined the relationship between environmental features of a community (i.e., structural disadvantage, residential mobility, and violent crime rate), situational features, and officer based characteristics on the likelihood of aggressive physical resistance against police officers. In addition to his research, Dr. Rossler teaches Introduction to Criminal Justice, Research Methods and Contemporary Policing in America. Dr. Rossler is originally from West Michigan. He now lives in Hudson, IL with his wife Maggie.

Training Class Title: Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Police Psychology.....

That Might Save Your Agency

Speaker(s): Heather K. McElroy, Ph.D., ABPP

Board Certified Police and Public Safety Psychologist

Managing Partner, Stone, McElroy & Associates and Psychological Dimensions

About the Class:

You may never have considered the implications that psychology could have on your agency but partnering with a police and public safety psychologist will allow you to improve your hiring process, increase retention, and develop a team of resilient officers. This block of instruction will detail the services a police and public safety psychologist can provide your agency including a discussion of the psychological pre-employment process, navigating the murky waters of the psychological fitness for duty, implementing a comprehensive wellness program, and developing leadership skills to recruit and retain the next generation of law enforcement officers. You will learn how to identify a qualified police and public safety psychologist and better understand how you can benefit from the new GA POST requirements for a psychologist or psychiatrist to evaluate candidates prior to becoming certified. You will become familiar with the International Association of Chiefs of Police guidelines for psychological services within your agency to ensure that your processes are comprehensive and legally defensive to prevent lawsuits related to negligent hiring and retention. Additionally, you will learn how to create a culture of teamwork to reduce turnover and improve morale.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Heather McElroy is a Board Certified Police and Public Safety Psychologist with over 15 years of experience working exclusively with public safety agencies conducting psychological pre-employment screening, fitness for duty evaluations, critical incident debriefing, hostage negotiation, and wellness training. She has been POST certified as a Peace Officer since 2011, and she served as chair of the International Association of Chiefs Of Police Psychological Services Section. She is currently the Education Chair of the Police and Public Safety Section of the Public Service Division of the American Psychological Association and currently serves on the Ethics Committee of the IACP. She serves as a mentor in the early career minority police psychology mentorship group to encourage minority development into leadership positions within the field of police psychology. Her course instruction experience includes training for the National Internal Affairs Investigator’s Association, Georgia Internal Affairs Investigator’s Association, the Georgia Association of Chief’s of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police. She has also published articles in Police Chief magazine related to psychological fitness for duty and co-authored a book chapter titled, Social Climate Change and the Modern Police Department: Millennials, Marijuana, and Mass Media.

Training Class Title: Strengths - The Submarine Way - Driving a healthier culture through interdependence

Speaker(s): John Gregory Vincent, MBA, USN Command Master Chief (Retired)

About the Class:

This is a highly interactive and practical session with open and small group discussions throughout. The focus is providing immediately applicable tools for those that attend to deploy throughout their organizations to build resiliency, establish interdependent and collaborative relationships, and understand the difference between negative conflict and positive conflict. The participant will walk away with practical tools to apply when under pressure and to use to shake off issues after a dramatic situation.

Speaker Bio:

John Gregory Vincent is a 20-year veteran of the Navy’s Submarine Force, retiring as a Command Master Chief. He is a former workplace consultant for The Gallup Organization, where he received the delivery excellence award in his last year with them as the highest, client rated Gallup consultant in the world. John is the world’s preeminent expert in driving behavioral change through a patent published system that builds, develops and grows inclusive leaders.

A successful entrepreneur, international keynote speaker, executive coach, author, and consultant, he founded The Genesis Group LLC in 2008. He later served as the chief talent and learning officer, before assuming his present role. John has been working with law enforcement departments for more than a decade and considers it his most important work.

He is the author, along with his business partner and wife, Deborah Cake Fortin, of the bestselling book, Diversity & Inclusion The Submarine Way, named one of the best submarine books ever written by Book Authority. He also wrote the critically acclaimed book UPSIDE: A Guide to Achieving Your Full Potential in Life: John and Deb’s latest book UP PERISCOPE. Putting Traditional Leadership in the Crosshairs was released in May of 2020.

John received a master’s in business administration with a concentration in management from Grantham University and a bachelor’s degree in human resources from Brenau University. He and Deb live with their two snow dogs, cat and John’s beloved mountain bike in Augusta GA.

Training Class Title: Building a Better COP: Balancing Privacy Concerns with Officer and Community Safety.

Speaker(s): Chris Lindenau, CEO, Fūsus

About the Class:

Building a holistic Common Operating Picture (COP) is a Law Enforcement agency's best opportunity to enhance operational effectiveness, mitigate criminal activity, and positively engage their community. An essential capability for an effective COP is the ability to unify all video and data feeds to create an effective force multiplier. By creating a unified stream of video and data from all sources, including public & private cameras, gunfire detectors, officer locations, and aircraft, and integrating them into the 911-CAD feed, departments can create highly efficient situational awareness networks for their command staff, officers, and investigators, while also balancing the privacy needs of the general public.

Join us for an interactive session to learn how agencies can better utilize new technologies, encourage community participation in public safety initiatives, and utilize public and private video sources to enable a common operating picture for all personnel.

Speakers Bio's:

Chris Lindenau, CEO, Fūsus

Chris Lindenau is the CEO of Fūsus, a technology company focused on enabling Law Enforcement and Public Safety personnel to function more efficiently and with improved operational intelligence.

A native of Columbia, Maryland, Lindenau served for six years on active duty as a Navy Diver, Search and Rescue Swimmer, and as a Supply Officer. He deployed to the Middle East to assist the U.S. effort during Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism. After the military, Lindenau served as the Chief Revenue Officer for Utility Inc., a manufacturer of hardware and software solutions for mobile connectivity, body camera, and in-vehicle video systems for first responders, and the Director of Global Sales and Marketing for Moog Sensor and Surveillance Systems, a division of the company’s Space and Defense Group. Lindenau is an active member of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), and has fourteen years of experience launching and growing video surveillance and software technology companies in the public safety, commercial, and defense markets.

Richard Ring, Public Safety Advisor, Fūsus

Richard Ring is a Public Safety Advisor at Fūsus, working with Law Enforcement agencies on their Situational Awareness and Intelligence technology initiatives.

Rich has 27 years of experience leading criminal and internal investigations, major police operations, personnel administration, and project development initiatives. He has served as Chief of Police at the Belle Isle Police Department and Captain at the Orlando Police Department, In addition to his work at Fusus, he also serves as an Advanced Curriculum Law Enforcement Instructor at the Valencia College School of Public Safety. Prior to his law enforcement career, Rich served as a Certified Naval Master Instructor in the United States Navy, as well as Electronics Technician First Class.

Captain Jared Akins, Statesboro Police Department

Jared is a Captain with the Statesboro (Ga) Police Department's Operations Bureau, which combines criminal and drug investigative units.

Jared graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from Georgia Southern University and began his law enforcement career in 2001 with the Bulloch County (Ga) Sheriff's Office. Over a 16 year period with that agency he served in a variety of patrol and investigative roles before being appointed Chief Deputy in 2013. In 2017, he joined the Statesboro Police Department and began supervising the Operations Bureau in 2019. He holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Arkansas State University and is a P.O.S.T. certified instructor. He is a member of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), and the International Homicide Investigators Association.

Thomas McKeithen, Owner/Operator McKeithen True Value Hardware

Thomas started his career with the Statesboro Police Department in August 2010, straight out of college at Georgia Southern University. During his nearly eight year tenure at SPD, he worked patrol, traffic enforcement, narcotics investigations, and served almost three years on a multi-jurisdictional narcotics and street crimes task force. After his time on the task force, Thomas returned to patrol as a supervisor. In Summer 2011 he joined the department SWAT team and remained a member on the entry team element for his entire career at SPD.

In May 2018 Thomas left SPD and opened a Hardware Store in Statesboro. Thomas knew that security would be a crucial aspect of keeping his business safe and secure.

Training Class Title: Non-Violent Police Intervention: De-escalation and control through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Speaker(s): Major Jake King, Marietta Police Department (FBINA Session 258)

About the Class:

The demand on law enforcement to be more versatile has never been higher. We recognize that the measures taken in our profession for gaining compliance are under extremely high scrutiny from the public, and more is expected out of our uniform patrol officers and tactical units than ever before We recognized years ago that the public tends to negatively perceive officers punching or kicking to gain compliance. However, most agencies have not given their officers the tools to be successful. An alternative is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, known as the “gentle art” of very effective control tactics. This program first started with our SWAT officers attending and today our entire department has had massive success with this program. Over 70 percent of the department has opted to be trained in these methods voluntarily. In addition, we have 2 years of data proving the program’s effectiveness, reduction of injuries, and workers compensation savings. Please attend our seminar not only learn how to implement and fund this kind of training, but also how to ensure POST credit will be earned for your officers. In addition, Jiu Jitsu has reduced the number of injuries to officers and suspects alike. We will be showing real success videos from our department and conducting demonstrations!

To show students the value of implementing a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) program in the their department. This program will reshape law enforcement in the near future and showing why BJJ should be mandatory in all police departments.

Students will understand how BJJ works and why it is so valuable for all officers to learn, especially tactical officers working in high risk environments. Students will learn how to get POST credit for all BJJ training regardless of state. They will also understand how to fund the program and be covered under workers comp while training. Students will be provided handouts to take back giving them sample proposals for command staff, guidelines, and polices.

Speaker Bio:

Major Jake King has been in law enforcement for 23 years with the Marietta Police Department. of the 23 years, he served 19 years on SWAT and is still active as the team commander. He obtained his graduate degree from Columbus State University, attended the FBI National Academy class 258 and the 2019 GILEE. He is a student of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and currently a Purple belt. He has also attended the Gracie Survival Tactics Instructor course. Along with these accolades, Major King has been an instructor since 2000 and holds many other UOF instructor certifications.

Training Class Title: Gun Store Burglary Investigative Techniques and use of NIBIN to Combat Violent Crime

Speaker(s): ATF Special Agent Brian Moore and Supervisory Special Agent Chad Munn (FBINA Session 257)

About the Class:

Presentation will cover case studies of recent gun store burglaries and the groups perpetrating the crimes with a concentration on new investigative techniques and benefits of coordinated action. Additionally, presenters will cover the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) program which automates ballistic evaluations and provides actionable investigative leads in a timely manner. NIBIN is the only interstate automated ballistic imaging network in operation in the United States that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms. NIBIN and the ATF E-Trace programs are two key tools that ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Centers (CGIC) use to identify violent shooters and their sources of the crime guns.

Training Class Title: Resilience Training Program

Speaker(s): Buddy Johnson, MPA

About the Class:

A fully vetted and scientifically proven resilience training program that holds its roots with the United States Armed Forces and has been comprehensively put into an easy to teach, facilitate and understand format that will dramatically and positively enhance any organizations culture, while also providing the individual members of those organization with valuable and tangible, mental, physical and social communication tools to effectively assist in coping with the internal and external stressors that come with the professions they have courageously entered into. These resilience tools are specifically designed to allow an individual the opportunity to withstand the pressures of the job as they occur day to day; recover from the fallout caused by those stressors; and above all the ability to learn, grow and triumph over those events and situations. This resilience platform is unique and groundbreaking as it completes the full circle of training for our public safety associates, both sworn and non-sworn, giving them the necessary tools to overcome the mental, physical, and social wounds that inherently plague the profession. This training is a proven method for positive cultural changes in any department or organization and can easily advance the public’s perception of public safety professionals up to and far beyond any former standard in history.

Speaker Bio:

Buddy Johnson is a retired Georgia State Patrol Captain and Troop Commander and is currently serving as the County Administrator for Grady County Georgia as well as a lead instructor and consultant for TNBleu Conglomerate LLC, a family-owned business. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Thomas University and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Columbus State University. Buddy is also a graduate of the FBINA's 244th Session and current member of the Georgia Chapter of the FBINAA.