Local law enforcement instructors 'train the trainer' during recent course

Law enforcement personnel from around Missouri attended a five-day instructor development course at the Marshall Police Department building between Wednesday, Oct. 28, and Friday, Nov. 6.

The course, taught by MPD Assistant Chief David Roscher and Public Information Officer Roger Gibson, aimed to "train the trainer," said Roscher.

Roscher and Gibson taught this class as employees of Roscher's training company, Public Safety Training Specialists.

Topics covered included the role of the instructor and his or her responsibilities and authority, how success is measured, principles of learning, methods of instruction, public speaking, construction of lesson plans, legal aspects of instruction, training aides, test construction and question validation, evaluation of instructors and a practical teaching exercise, Roscher said.

The teaching exercises began Friday morning, Nov. 6, with a presentation from K-9 Officer Steven Stewart.

He spoke about the history of military use of dogs, first showing a video slideshow that highlighted the United States military's use of dogs from World War I through Operation Iraqi Freedom, calling them "America's forgotten heroes."

There are currently more than 7,000 K-9 teams in the U.S., said Stewart.

A second video showed the difference between aggressive- and passive-alert dogs, before bringing in MPD's passive-alert drug detection dog Boomer.

Stewart led Boomer around four boxes, one of which, he said, was filled with marijuana.

Boomer's indication of one box as the source of the scent was obvious, with his hindquarters on the floor and his back legs spread.

However, when Stewart was slow to give Boomer his "gifty," a squeaky tennis ball, Boomer resumed his hunt for the smell.

"If you don't give him his ball quick enough, he thinks he didn't get it right," said Stewart.

He also mentioned the tennis ball, saying some people think the dog is trying to find the ball.

But, he said, he actually works to "train him off of" the ball and food, so that if he were to stop a vehicle found to be filled with tennis balls or food, Boomer would have no trouble ignoring those things and concentrating on detecting the odor of illegal drugs.

Stewart spoke about the testing he and Boomer must participate in, saying that of the 16 areas of the field test, the dog can miss a maximum of one cache of narcotics without failing the test.

Even a demonstrated 93.75-percent success rate in narcotic detection is enough, said Stewart, to cast doubt into the mind of a judge when the dog's skills are used as evidence in a criminal trial.

So, he said, he and Boomer are "always training," including doing locker searches at area schools.

Besides Stewart, MPD personnel Anner Umana and Luis Perez, Missouri State Water Patrol Officer Kimberly Davis, Greene County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Britton, University of Central Missouri employee Karen Chevalier and Administrator of Davies-DeKalb Regional Jail Larry Hadley were also in attendance for the 40-hour course.

Contact Geoff Rands at marshallreporter@socket.net