Patrick Lyoya was tragically killed by a Police Officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan during a traffic stop. While much of the world is fixated on whether or not lethal force was justifiable in this particular incident (we articulate the reasoning from both sides of the argument in this video), we believe there is a much bigger question that needs to be addressed if there is any hope for a brighter future for Law Enforcement in America: How is it possible that a person is given a gun and a badge, and the responsibility to enforce the law, on only 4 hours of control tactics training per year? Since the minimum training standards are almost always set by the State Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, individual police officers (and the agencies they work for) are mistakenly led to believe that 4 hours (give or take a few hours depending on the State) is enough, but it’s not. We now have published law enforcement data that proves the extent to which sufficiently trained officers (at least 1-2 hours per week), are 53% less likely to cause serious injury to civilians than an untrained officer, AND are less likely to be injured themselves. Not only does sufficient training save civilian and law enforcement lives, it leads to quantifiable savings in reduced workers comp claims and a reduction in excessive force allegations and lawsuits against agencies. To be clear, there are some problems in law enforcement that better training can’t change, and that we don’t have the answers to, but when it comes to what we can do today to lead to better policing tomorrow, improved empty-hand control tactics is one step that has proven results.



http://www.GracieUniversity.com/Reform