Policing is a highly rewarding but inherently dangerous profession, making training a critical responsibility for any law enforcement agency. Ensuring the safety of our personnel as they protect and serve the community is paramount because if they’re not safe, they cannot keep our community safe.
At the Naperville Police Department, their commitment to training is well-documented with thousands of hours of training being provided annually to their 179 sworn officers. There are three general categories of training for Naperville Police Officers:
- New Officer Training – Each new officer attends a 16-week police academy followed by up to six months of field training before going out on solo patrol and completing a probation period in Naperville.
- Specialty Assignment Training – Naperville PD offers many opportunities for officers to take on collateral or specialty positions, ranging from detective or Special Response Team member to K-9 officer and accident reconstruction expert. Each assignment requires regular training, some adding up to hundreds of hours annually, to achieve certifications and perfect/maintain specialized skills.
- Annual In-Service Training – This is mandatory training provided by the department for all sworn officers.
For the purposes of this article, they’d like to focus on the third category: In-service training. The Naperville Police Department’s Professional Development and Training Unit provided more than 6,100 hours of in-service training for department personnel in 2022.
The 2022 training covered topics like officer wellness, de-escalation, K9 overview, control tactics, pursuit policy review, mental health, firearm and taser training, legal updates, non-emergency vehicle operations, high risk vehicle stops, body cameras, and more. The delivery of the training was as varied as the topics, with officers utilizing online services, attending classroom instruction, participating in hands-on and scenario-based training, and practicing on a driving course, firing range and virtual reality simulator.
“This job is dangerous and involves split-second decisions, and if you’re not properly trained, you put yourself and others in danger,” said Chief Jason Arres. “We put so much emphasis on a wide-range of training because we don’t want the first time an officer has to face something to be a real-world scenario. If you don’t train, emotions take over, you don’t have a plan, and things can go downhill quickly.”
630 Naperville welcomed Naperville Police Department’s Chief of Police, Jason Arres.
