GREEN BAY, Wis. — A law enforcement recruit trainer in Green Bay says training tactics and policing methods are continually evolving at Wisconsin’s police academies.
Jason Weber spent 28 years as a police officer in northeast Wisconsin before coordinating the law enforcement training program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay.
“It’s always evolving. Every incident is different,” he says.
Weber says academies, departments and trainers are well aware of challenges officers face in the field and how new or modified training can help them make better choices on how to tackle tough situations while on duty.
Heber says modern police training focuses a lot on community policing, teaching future officers how develop relationships within the communities officers serve. He says new ways of communication and de-escalation are also taught.
He says there is one thing classes don’t promote.
“That’s not a thing that’s taught, I mean the chokeholds,” he says.
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission is considering fully banning chokeholds by city officers by eliminating the exemption allowing officers to use it in life-or-death situations. The commission delayed the vote to April 15.
“Use of force is never pretty and it’s never a good thing when that happens,” Weber says.
He believes there may be a disconnect between what the public perceives training academies teach officers and what’s really taught. He says transparency can make a difference in allowing the public to better understand tactics and why they’re deployed.