Officers should be given training that is \u201cengaging and quality\u201d to ensure forces are benefitting from the highest quality policing, South Yorkshire Police Federation says.<\/p>\n
Federation Chair Steve Kent said forces had the change to make training a force for good rather than a laborious \u201ctoken gesture\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said many areas relied on online training that did not stimulate participants and often felt like wasted time.<\/p>\n
Steve\u2019s comments followed the College of Policing finding many forces saw training as an abstraction rather than an investment in their officers.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cTraining has to be good quality, it has to be engaging. It can\u2019t just feel like a token gesture.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers might wonder why I\u2019m asking for this, but the wider context is that officers get proper risk assessment training.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get that high level risk assessment training for our officers, starting with the frontline, then we\u2019re probably far better at justifying our actions and recording them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will give the officers more confidence to deal with the really difficult decisions that they actually have to make.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve recognised officers were flat-out with work and they would rather get no with their job, but he stressed there were huge benefits to learning new methods.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be so regular that it loses its value, but when they do have training days they have to be really engaging, quality, and actually relevant to their roles\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should be about what the officers need, and maybe we should consult those officers.\u201d<\/p>\n