The Challenge
It was 2019 and the SPD was going through growing pains. Within a few years, the department went from having almost three-quarters of officers eligible for retirement to having one officer eligible.
At the same time, law enforcement agencies nationwide were being buffeted by changing community expectations, often codified in legislation.
The SPD felt this acutely. “It was tough staying on top of things and getting those changes out to the officers,” says Chief Torrie James. “You could tell them there were changes coming, but I know what it’s like to be an officer—you read that email and you move on.”
The department lacked a system to disseminate and track policy acknowledgments.
“We were a small agency trying to learn how to be a larger agency,” Chief James says. “Policy changes would be via email or at a supervisors’ meeting. We never had an electronic system; we updated the policies in Word. It was cumbersome.”
The SPD’s approach to training was similarly manual, with most of the budget spent on in-person training to meet state mandates—which, of course, ground to a halt when COVID hit.
"The auditors told us that we’re the model agency for the state … That’s definitely because of us having Lexipol."
The Solution
At the annual meeting of the Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police, Chief James listened while another agency described what Lexipol’s Policies and Training solution did for them. “Right then we knew it was something we needed,” he says.
With Lexipol, the department has access to 170 policies housed in an electronic platform that provides one-click policy issuance and acknowledgment reporting. Lexipol also keeps the policies updated as new state and federal legislation is passed. “The system forces the officers to look at the policies and the updates and acknowledge that they’ve seen them,” Chief James says. “And the Daily Training Bulletins help the officers pay attention to the policies and learn them.”
Lexipol’s online training complements the policy management system. Using PoliceOne Academy, Chief James creates learning assignments aimed at meeting state requirements. “We assign courses every month or so, giving the officers a couple months to complete them,” Chief James says. “It was great with COVID, as we were able to offset training hours we just couldn’t get because people weren’t doing in-person training.”
The Academy courses also allow the SPD to address performance issues. “When I have issues with officers, I can rely on Lexipol instead of waiting for the state academy to provide applicable training,” Chief James says. “Recently I had an officer who said some things he probably shouldn’t have around some female members. I was able to immediately assign him two sexual harassment courses through PoliceOne Academy.”
"When I have issues with officers, I can rely on Lexipol instead of waiting for the state academy to provide training that addresses it."
The Solution
At the annual meeting of the Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police, Chief James listened while another agency described what Lexipol’s Policies and Training solution did for them. “Right then we knew it was something we needed,” he says.
With Lexipol, the department has access to 170 policies housed in an electronic platform that provides one-click policy issuance and acknowledgment reporting. Lexipol also keeps the policies updated as new state and federal legislation is passed. “The system forces the officers to look at the policies and the updates and acknowledge that they’ve seen them,” Chief James says. “And the Daily Training Bulletins help the officers pay attention to the policies and learn them.”
Lexipol’s online training complements the policy management system. Using PoliceOne Academy, Chief James creates learning assignments aimed at meeting state requirements. “We assign courses every month or so, giving the officers a couple months to complete them,” Chief James says. “It was great with COVID, as we were able to offset training hours we just couldn’t get because people weren’t doing in-person training.”
The Academy courses also allow the SPD to address performance issues. “When I have issues with officers, I can rely on Lexipol instead of waiting for the state academy to provide applicable training,” Chief James says. “Recently I had an officer who said some things he probably shouldn’t have around some female members. I was able to immediately assign him two sexual harassment courses through PoliceOne Academy.”
Want to learn how Lexipol policies and online training can help your agency?
