Below 100

Introduction
It has been a while since I have put fingers to keep board, but I thought this an important article/material to draft.  I recently attended a training which was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota the training vendor was the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center- Rural Policing Institute.  The training was focuses towards Rural Police Officer Safety.  There were three instructor John Bostain, Brian Willis and Mike Sumeracki.  The training focused on W.I.N. (Whats Important Now), Warrior Spirit/Mind Set/ LEOKA and Below 100 .  The training was attended by over 50 police officers from five states.  This training was important for a variety of reasons.

Whats Important Now:
This training sessions was taught by Brian Willis, he is a retired police supervisor from Canada.  He focused on the Warrior Spirit/Winning Mind Set and the principle of W.I.N.  For officers and individuals that are not aware of what this "lifestyle" change movement is about is empowering officers to think about what is important, to focus on safety, to keep ones mind thinking about the choices and how to succeed in the moments in the day,weekly, and yearly.  This training was well received by the audience and to be blunt this was something that most Minnesota Police Officers have not heard and or been familiar with.  Mr. Willis, is a quality trainer/instructor and presenter.  He provided clarity, and advice to the students (officers) in attendance. 

LEOKA
Mike Sumeracki presented on LEOKA, they research behind the hows/whys and whens police officers get killed and injured in the line of duty.  However this important to understand that the assault/ attempted murder might occur on the first call of the day or a rookie officer, or the last call of the day for an officer who is retiring.  The one thing that appeared to be the undertones of the message, dealt with complacency and officers to keep fresh, current on both skills, techniques and the law.

Below 100
Below 100 was a training that Mr. Willis and John Bostain co-taught.  The concept dealt with a initiative that brought out of a dinner at ILEETA.  The initiative is simply- we as a law enforcement society must remember to these five tenants- slow down, buckle up, wear your vest, W.I.N and complacency kills.  To me this was the most powerful session of the day.  Mr. Willis and Mr. Bostain spoke from the heart about a variety of inspirationaland tragic stories.  The main focal point or learning point, take aways was we as culture need to change, we as a culture are our own worst enemy.

Conclusion
First and foremost this training was brought forth by the funding from the United States Congress.  Although we do not bring enough attention to the funding sources, we need to recognize these efforts to protect US (law enforcement officers).  Second I thought we need to thank FLETC-RPI for bringing quality training to law enforcement officers, third and certainly not least is the three trainers who presented to the class.  Finally and the most important is the officers who attended the training because they are a visionary, forward thinking and willing to think outside of the box and change the paradigm.