So, You Want to Create a Nationally Certified Police Training Course?
First of all, kudos to you! The law enforcement community needs people like you. Creating training directly impacts the readiness of officers in the field and the safety of their communities. Plus, new training is a key factor in recruiting and retaining officers, which is a major hurdle facing many police agencies. But do you know what you’re getting yourself into? There’s a reason not every cop is a cop educator. This process takes time, patience, money, and a whole lot of effort. Let’s dig in.
The Long Road Ahead
Pre-work: Develop the skills and expertise in the topic area. Is it a specialized area that requires specialized skills, knowledge, ability? Ensure it is within your scope of expertise or you have access to the subject mater experts to assist you.
The Costs
Creating police training can add up to a significant sum. Research shows that developing one hour of instructor-led training can take anywhere from 43 to 185 hours, depending on complexity. That means a 100-hour curriculum could take between 4,300 and 18,500 hours, or cost an agency $229,000 to $555,000 in labor alone.
(If you’re looking for a cost-effective, ready-to-go solution, V-VICTA delivers 100 hours of POST-certified, training, without the overwhelming development burden. Learn more: https://www.virtra.com/overview-le/v-victa-training/)
Understand the Standards
Before you do anything, you need to familiarize yourself with the IADLEST National Certification Program (NCP) standards. These guidelines determine if your course is rigorous, relevant, and meets instructor qualifications. Also, conduct a needs assessment. Figure out knowledge gaps and align your course with real-world law enforcement challenges. Don’t forget legal and ethical compliance. Your curriculum must meet your state and federal training requirements, which are often available on state POST websites.
Build a Strong Foundation
It may help to follow an instructional design model like instructional design model like ADDIE to guide your process. Think of curriculum development like building a house: start with the foundation before adding specialized content. The design model you choose does not matter as much as the fact that you follow one. This will reduce the burden of organizing the course material.
Testing & Instructional Materials
Assess Learning Effectiveness
A great course requires teaching AND performance measurement. That means:
- Pre-tests to assess baseline knowledge.
- Post-tests to measure retention (use scenario-based, not just multiple-choice).
- Rubrics for consistent evaluation.
Equip Instructors
At every stage, think about how easy it will be for other instructors to deliver your course. That means an instructor guide is a MUST: clear learning objectives, discussion points, and engagement strategies.
- PowerPoint slides should be concise and visual—no walls of text! Ask yourself, Would a Gen Z officer in training stay engaged in the presentation? Would I?
- Workbooks with bullet points help officers remember key concepts and take notes.
Hands-On Learning & Police Curriculum Certification
Keep It Real with Scenarios
The best learning happens through experience. Use hands-on instruction like:
- Live role-playing exercises
- Simulator training
Consider any real-world situations you’ve experienced where you had to apply the knowledge being taught. These can provide an excellent foundation for your course’s scenarios.
To increase knowledge retention, consider a structured debriefing to help officers process and apply what they’ve learned.
Get Certified
Before launching, get feedback from subject matter experts (SMEs) to ensure accuracy: colleagues, published experts, and any mentors that have relevant experience. Then, pilot test your course to fine-tune pacing and content. Assuming all went smoothly, next you can:
- Submit a detailed certification package to IADLEST.
- Be prepared for revisions!
Launch, Evaluate & Improve Your Police Curriculum
Train & Engage Instructors
Your instructors should facilitate discussions, encourage critical thinking, and keep officers engaged. If you gained any valuable insights while piloting the course, now is the time to share them with your training team. Ensure your instructors are equipped with the necessary tools to make the training effective and impactful.
Track Performance & Maintain
- Collect participant feedback to refine training.
- Conduct an annual review to update content for new laws & best practices.
- Keep detailed records for compliance and certification renewal.
Bottom line? Writing a police curriculum is a marathon, not a sprint. But if you see it through, you’ll help officers develop critical skills to serve their communities.
Need a Shortcut? We’ve Got You Covered
If you made it this far, congratulations! We look forward to seeing your course certification announcement on IADLEST social media. Now, go get some much-needed rest. We certainly needed some!
Creating a training course or police curriculum is time-consuming, costly, and complex. Even with an in-house team like at VirTra, it’s a heavy lift.
If you’re crunched for time and budget, skip the hassle and use our ready-to-use curriculum. It’s:
- Fully developed with rubrics, tests, presentations, videos & case law.
- POST-certified and ready to use on Day One.
- FREE with every VirTra simulator
V-VICTA is how VirTra gives back to the law enforcement training community. Because nothing should stand between you and training your officers.
Learn more: https://www.virtra.com/overview-le/v-victa-training/
Sources:
Chapman, B. (2010). How Long Does it Take to Create Learning? [Research Study]. Published by Chapman Alliance LLC. www.chapmanalliance.com
Karl M. Kapp, Robyn A Defelice. “Time to Develop One Hour of Training.” ATD, 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 31 Jan. 2017. www.td.org
