Summary:

In this episode, Dr. Jerry Ratcliffe discusses the importance of evidence-based policing, the challenges faced by police scholars in academia, and the need for more practical, scientifically minded police professionals. He shares insights from his journey from police officer to scholar and offers advice for future police leaders and researchers.

Key topics:

• The importance of evidence-based policing

• Challenges faced by police scholars in academia

• The concept of pracademics and their role in policing

• The impact of social and political movements on police scholarship

• Strategies for integrating research into police practice

• The importance of evaluation and experimentation in policing

• The disconnect between academia and frontline policing

• The need for diversity of thought in police research

Takeaways:

• Police officers and staff should be trained in evaluation and research methods.

• Academic institutions need to foster diversity of thought to support innovation in policing.

• Embedded criminologists can serve as a bridge between research and practice.

• Policing programs should be rigorously evaluated for effectiveness.

• Police leaders should embrace a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement.

• The term 'copaganda fascists' highlights the need for more scholarly work in policing.

• Evidence-based policing can lead to incremental improvements across departments.

• Training and evaluation are underutilized opportunities for improving policing.

Please go to the Trainer's Bullpen website at www.trainersbullpen.com to access a copy of the research paper discussed as well as other resources.

Summary

In this episode of the Trainer’s Bullpen, host Dan Fraser chats with learning researcher, practitioner expert and author of “Powerful Teaching” Patrice Bain. Patrice shares evidence-based learning strategies rooted in cognitive science, including retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition. These powerful tools can transform teaching and learning, making knowledge more accessible and durable. The interview contains not only the scientific basis of how these tools greatly enhance long term learning, but also practical tips and examples of application in the learning environment. Stay around after the interview as Dan and Chris discuss how they use these principles in the Method of Instruction Course and give advice on how trainers and coaches can easily apply these principles to accelerate learning and retention in their students.

Key topics

• Retrieval practice as a core learning tool

• Spacing and interleaving to enhance retention

• Metacognition and feedback for self-assessment

• Priming and pretests to set the stage for learning

• Teaching students how to learn and take ownership

• Why forgetting is essential for learning

• The importance of errors and how they shape the conditions for rich learning

• How the coach must ‘choreograph’ the learning

• Practical application in classroom and practical skills environments

• Law enforcement specific application

Resources:

Powerful Teaching by Patrice Bain - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Powerful+Teaching+Patrice+Bain

retrievalpractice.org - https://retrievalpractice.org/

patricebain.com - https://patricebain.com

A Parent's Guide to Powerful Teaching - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=A+Parent%27s+Guide+to+Powerful+Teaching

Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger, McDaniel - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Make+It+Stick+Brown+Roediger+McDaniel

Summary: This conversation explores the limitations of traditional police training focused on control and linear responses and introduces a new paradigm—Officer Safety 2.0—that emphasizes reflexivity, insight, and understanding the co-creation of encounters. Benni Zaiser shares his unique background, research, and practical strategies for transforming law enforcement approaches to enhance safety and reduce escalation.

Key topics:

• Limitations of traditional officer safety models (1.0)

• The concept of officer-induced jeopardy as a social / training (not legal) construct

• Systemic and social systems theory in policing

• Understanding the constructive nature of inter-personal violence

• The importance of reflexivity and metacognition

• Turning points and scenario-based training for adaptive responses

• The role of heuristics and biases in decision-making

• The dangers of linear training and how it creates poor adaptability and decision making.

• Moving from control to insight in police training

• Practical strategies for implementing Officer Safety 2.0

Please go to the Trainer's Bullpen website at www.trainersbullpen.com to access a copy of the research paper discussed as well as other resources.

Summary

Patrick Van Horne is the co-author of “Left of Bang” and the co-founder of The CP Journal, where he helps organizations get ahead of problems before they become emergencies. A former Marine Corps infantry officer who began his career following the September 11th attacks, Patrick has spent more than 20 years supporting public and private-sector organizations as an entrepreneur, consultant, and public servant.

This episode features Patrick discusses the critical concept of Left of Bang risk management and situational awareness and its application in threat recognition, decision-making, and organizational growth. Learn how proactive awareness can sharpen early awareness, improve decision making and shape outcomes in high-stakes environments.

Key Topics

• Left of Bang framework and its evolution

• The role of behavioral cues in threat recognition

• How habits can impair awareness

• Col. Coopers Color Codes of Awareness and how they apply to Left of Bang

• Strategies for proactive decision-making and action

• The importance of including rich context in training

• How to identify dangerous anomalies that are above or below baseline normal

• Organizational responses to crises: growth, survival, failure

• The importance of establishing baselines and anomalies in situational awareness

Summary:

This Bullpen episode explores the severe limitations of traditional firearms training and why there is a failure of training to show up under the pressure of real-world combat environments. Jack introduces ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches as learning methods firearms trainers should consider in order to enhance real-world performance. Jack Bale shares insights from his research on task ambiguity, representative design, and how to create training environments that better prepare officers and military personnel for the chaos of combat.

Key Topics:

• The importance of representative design learning theory and ecological dynamics.

• Combat survivability in real-world gunfights requires the skills of situational awareness, mobility, and lethality.

• Task ambiguity in training is desirable because it reduces task ambiguity in the real world.

• Training design principles: spacing, interleaving, variability.

• Trainers must ensure training simulates real world context early in order to facilitate the emergence of functional behaviours that are needed to enhance survivability.

• Trainers need to understand the difference between non-specifying and specifying information and how to incorporate this into training design.

• The gap between qualification scores and real-world performance.

• One of the goals of training is to create learning environments that educate and attune our student’s anticipation and attention.

• Considerations for implementing a Constraints Led Approach to enhance retention and transfer of critical skills.

Summary:

In this episode we hear insights from Stuart Armstrong, CEO of the Talent Equation, managing director of Future Coach, and host of the Talent Equation Podcast. Stuart challenges traditional coaching paradigms – calling it a ‘limited and fragmented’ system and he advocates for a needed systemic reset in coach education. He emphasizes ecological dynamics, nonlinear pedagogy, and the importance of adaptive, context-driven learning environments to enhance coaching effectiveness and athlete development.

Key Topics:

• Stuart’s long journey from traditional linear ‘performance-focussed’ athletic coach to a strong advocate for coach education and development in a nonlinear approach.

• The current systemic flaws in current coaching education and why a complete ‘reset’ is needed.

• Why Ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches are a powerful way of moving coaching forward.

• The importance of nonlinear pedagogy for adult learning.

• All training and learning should begin with the specific context within which any skill is going to be required.

• The ‘funnel’ concept of applying context and variability to find the ‘sweet spot’ for learning.

• Talent identification and development of coaches and performers.

• How to think about the necessary systemic change and grassroots movement in coaching.

• Don’t ‘boil the ocean’; How to approach making changes that can help reset the coaching system

More Resources!

Future Coach: https://futurecoach.uk/

The Talent Equation: https://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/

The Talent Equation Podcast: https://www.thetalentequation.co.uk/podcasts

Summary:

Imagine you are an Emergency Response Team member responding to a hostage rescue call at a crowded casino parking lot. The hostage is rescued. Shots are fired. A life is lost.

Now imagine that as a police officer, did your job as trained with tactical excellence—only to be charged with second-degree murder two years later.

Today’s guest didn’t just rescue a hostage and survive a lethal-force encounter. He survived a negligent investigation by the independent oversight agency and he survived the courtroom. Yet, the personal consequences of this experience left him forever profoundly changed.

In this compelling interview, Officer Jordan McWilliams shares his profound experience of a hostage rescue incident, the subsequent investigation, and the lessons learned about use of force, officer wellness, and accountability. Discover the realities of tactical operations, the importance of mental preparedness, and how police oversight is evolving. Jordan MacWilliams shares his profound journey through a police shooting incident, the subsequent legal battles, and the lessons learned about mental health, accountability, and organizational change. This episode offers invaluable insights for law enforcement professionals on handling critical incidents and fostering resilience.

*Note for listeners* This interview contains some brief interruptions due to technical issues, please be patient and just let play through.

Key Topics

• Jordan’s backstory – how, and why, I became a cop

• Hostage rescue operation at the Starlight Casino

• Mental and physical preparedness for tactical officers

• The negligence of the oversight investigation and failure to understand basic human factors led to a charge for second degree murder

• The role and purpose of video evidence was wrongly understood and applied which led the investigation seriously astray

• Lessons learned about officer wellness and accountability and the Impact of police shootings on mental health

• Organizational response to critical incidents – lessons of what not to do and what to do to support your officers

• Training implications – the importance of going ‘beyond tactics’ to build anti-fragility in your officers

• Legal processes and oversight in law enforcement

• Post-traumatic growth and resilience – Officers have to take charge of their physical and mental wellness

• Role of leadership and support in recovery

Summary:

Chief Jay Gerace of the Town of Colonie (NY) Police Department shares his innovative microdosing training model, integrating tactical decision games and skill-based practice into daily briefings to enhance officer decision-making, confidence, and operational readiness.

Key Topics:

• Traditional ‘block’ training results in the worst retention and transfer of policing knowledge and skill

• The science of learning provides undeniable evidence for a spaced and interleaved approach to cognitive and practical skill training.

• The Town of Colonie Police Department conducted a 13-week ‘micro-dosing’ training session.

• Micro-Dosing consisted of weekly sessions approximately 20 minutes in length.

• Micro-Dosing topics chosen were critical cognitive knowledge (rules, policies and authorities), practical skills (weapons, radios, first aid), and decision-making skills.

• Implementation of tactical decision games was the method used to enhance decision making capability.

• The skill of the training facilitator in using Socratic feedback is essential for creating a trusting and positive learning environment.

• Impact of small, frequent training sessions on officer confidence and decision-making across all metrics was improved significantly.

• Post training effectiveness evaluation was conducted by the independent John F Finn Institute for Public Safety

• Agency leaders should strongly consider the power of consistent , short ‘micro-dosing’ training sessions to improve officer skill and decision making on the street.

Summary:

This episode explores the transfer problem in police training, focusing on how, and why, traditional methods of current firearms training is failing to translate into real-world effectiveness. Human performance researchers Dr. Pete Blair and Dr. Rob Gray discuss innovative training approaches rooted in ecological dynamics, emphasizing variability, representative design, and the importance of adaptive skills for law enforcement.

Key Topics:

• Current OIS hit rates are a clear indicator that there is an alarming failure of transfer from training.

• Transfer of training in law enforcement – what is transfer and why it is critical to understanding learning design

• Ecological dynamics is a proven method of skill acquisition coaching

• Representative design is a key principle that must guide training development

• Training design principles: spacing, interleaving, variability

• The critical role of pressure and mistakes and their role in learning

• The gap between qualification scores and real-world performance

• Doing more of what we have always done in firearms training will continue to yield the same horrible results on the street.

Summary:

In this conversation, Sam Elsner and the host explore the misconceptions surrounding learning styles and the nature of skill acquisition. They discuss the importance of context, the role of discomfort in learning, and the significance of feedback in training. Sam shares his journey from being a successful athlete to a thought leader in motor learning, emphasizing the need for a shift in how we approach training and education. The discussion highlights the ecological dynamics perspective, advocating for a more adaptable and context-rich learning environment.

Takeaways

• Rethinking traditional beliefs about learning can unlock potential.

• Labels like 'visual' or 'kinesthetic learner' can limit growth.

• Ecological dynamics offers a new lens for understanding skill acquisition, especially for highly nonlinear domains such as law enforcement.

• Context and environment are crucial for effective learning.

• Discomfort in training leads to greater adaptability and growth.

• How current feedback methods produce learned helplessness. Feedback must empower learners, not create dependency.

• Expertise is about perception and experience, not just knowledge.

• Why we constantly consume knowledge but don’t know how to use it.

• Training should embrace chaos and uncertainty for real-world application.

• Learning is a continuous process of adaptation and problem-solving.

• Creating a context-rich learning environment at the very beginning of skill acquisition is essential for success.

Check out Elsner’s Substack “ATTUNE” for thought-provoking insights on learning for life, here: https://substack.com/@samelsner