AG Yost announces recommendations for the future of police training

After creating a Blue Ribbon Task Force in the fall of 2023 to identify areas for improvement in peace officer training, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and task force members announce recommendations for multidimensional changes in the future of statewide law enforcement training.

“Our goal is simple: Today’s law enforcement agencies need to be ready for today’s problems,” AG Yost said. “Police training in Ohio has been patched together, with a course added here and there to address a timely need. We took a step back so that we could move forward with a wholistic approach. We want Ohio to serve as a national model by offering the best, most relevant training available year after year.”

The 11 member task force is a group consisting of a wide range of individuals including law enforcement professionals, mental health experts, and community leaders.

The group says it met with hundreds of law enforcement agencies in Ohio and spent months fact-finding, researching, discussing, debating, and seeking public comment.

All of this culminated in a special report released by the task force consisting of seven primary recommendations:

• Amend the Peace Officer Basic Training (POBT) curriculum to reflect contemporary police services.
• Establish certification levels to reflect an officer’s training and experience.
• Create a Tactical Patrol Officer Program.
• Add new technologies while incorporating elements of reality-based situational decision-making scenarios into both basic and advanced training.
• Develop integrated lesson plans across training platforms.
• Focus Continuing Professional Training (CPT) so that it keeps advancing police services.
• Expand annual firearms qualifications.

Included in the report are recommended updates to the current Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) and Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission (OPOTC) curriculums that would change the 740 hours of minimum training to receive a certificate to a more updated and useful course system. In the new system, the task force recommends 72 hours of coursework broken down into four sections:

• Basic & Interpersonal Communications & Mediation Course: 44 hours
• Incident Debrief training: 4 hours
• Active Shooter / Threat Response training in POBT with wraparound actions, such as duty to render aid: 8 hours
• Critical Decision-Making, Tactical Breathing, Crisis Mitigation & De-escalation, and Managing Cognitive Demand: 16 hours

The task group also suggested changes to help improve local agency recruitment and retention, and adjusted standards for the physical fitness test required to graduate from a basic academy.

At the press conference, OPOTA Executive Director Tom Quinlan, emphasized the tremendous value of hands-on learning. This went along with the task forces recommendation to replace single-topic, lecture-style courses with integrated training platforms featuring scenario-based practical application that will help peace officers better retain and employ the information.

The report says augmented reality and other new technologies may also be used to train officers in both routine and high-stress situations.

Next, these recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Task Force will be presented to OPOTC for consideration of adoption, and to legislature for their help in amending current statutes.