Trainer's Bullpen

Dr. Hunter Martaindale is the Director of Research at the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University and an Associate Research Professor within the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. In this role, he oversees all research activities for ALERRT, including analyzing active shooter events, conducting active shooter training program evaluations...

Summary Bryce Jenkins, a PhD student in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University, discusses his research on the deployment of SWAT or tactical teams and the associated risks. He challenges the notion of the militarization of police and the belief that the deployment of tactical teams increases the risk to the public. Bryce's research focuses on understanding the context and nature o...

Episode Summary Dr. Pete Blair is the Executive Director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center and a Professor of Criminal Justice at Texas State University.  Dr. Blair discusses the need to reform police training in order to address the current crisis in policing. He emphasizes the importance of an evidence-informed approach and highlights the work of ALERRT in p...

Professor Chris Cushion discusses the transformation of police personal safety training using scenario-based training, emphasizing the need for a pedagogical shift and the integration of decision-making and skill acquisition within tactical contexts. He addresses the challenges of implementing change and the disparity between traditional training models and the gold standard of scenario-based trai...

Welcome to Episode #35 of the Trainers Bullpen, the final edition in our ‘’How We Learn to Move” series with Dr. Rob Gray Rob Gray is a psychology professor and research psychologist with a focus on perceptual-motor control in driving, aviation, and sports. He also hosts the Perception & Action Podcast, is the author of two bestselling books on the acquisition of movement skills ‘How We Learn...

Rob Gray is a psychology professor and research psychologist with a focus on perceptual-motor control in driving, aviation, and sports. He also hosts the Perception & Action Podcast, is the author of two bestselling books on the acquisition of movement skills ‘How We Learn To Move’ and ‘Learning to Optimize Movement’, and he serves as the Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox. In...

Welcome to Episode # 33 of the Trainers Bullpen, the ‘’How We Learn to Move series– Part 2" Rob Gray is a psychology professor and research psychologist with a focus on perceptual-motor control in driving, aviation, and sports. He also hosts the Perception & Action Podcast, is the author of two books, including two bestsellers on the acquisition of movement skills ‘How We Learn To Move’ a...

Rob Gray is a psychology professor and research psychologist with a focus on perceptual-motor control in driving, aviation, and sports. He also hosts the Perception & Action Podcast, is the author of two books, including a bestseller on learning movement skills, and serves as the Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox. In this interview, Rob Gray discusses key aspects from chapter...

Welcome to Episode 31 of the Trainer’s Bullpen, ‘Motor Learning Feedback’ with Dr. Tim Lee. The type of feedback that a trainer or coach gives their students and the manner in which that feedback is provided is of critical importance to the effective of how well motor skills are acquired, retained and transferred. The most common type of feedback that is often applied in the law enforcement motor...

In this episode, we welcome back to the show, Dr. Paul Taylor. Paul is a Professor at University of Colorado Denver where he studies decision-making, human factors, and system safety in the context of police interactions with the public. He has over ten years of practical law enforcement experience including time as a department training manager, patrol sergeant, and use-of-force instructor. Paul...

Law enforcement trainers frequently stress the importance of Situational Awareness or 'SA'. But what even is it? If you ask a room full of trainers, you will get as many varied answers as there are people in the room! And yet, situational awareness in other domains has been found to be the hallmark of expert performance. Experts have developed ways of rapidly assessing an unfolding, often...

According to a national survey of police mental health, a staggering 90% of police officers affected by stress reported stigma as a barrier to seeking mental health support. In this very important interview, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University, Dr. Mariana Kaiseler, discusses the research that she and colleagues have published specifical...

In this episode, we speak with Dr Logan Markwell, human factors scientist and motor behaviour expert to discuss the Challenge Point Framework and why coaches and trainers should understand and apply this framework in the design and delivery of motor skills training. In this interview you will learn about nominal vs functional task difficulties, the role of variability and contextual interference i...

In this interview Dr. Craig Bennell from Carleton University in Ontario Canada discusses the research he and his colleagues conducted into the core Knowledge, Skills and Abilities that law enforcement officers must possess in order to effectively manage potentially violent police public interactions. This important conversation evolves from a study that was published in Frontiers in Psychology in...

Welcome to episode 25 of the Trainer’s Bullpen. Training Under Pressure with Dr. Tim Lee. If you are interested in how to train officers for the best decision making and motor performance on the street, this interview is for you as Dr. Lee blows several training myths out of the water. In this episode, we welcome back to the bullpen, Dr. Tim Lee, professor emeritus of motor learning from McMaster...

Welcome to Episode 24 of the Trainer’s Bullpen, ‘Relationships Between Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Occupational Performance, and Fitness for Tactical Personnel’ with Colin Tomes. For years law enforcement trainers have sought to understand the relationship between heart rate and officer performance and have frequently, and incorrectly, applied a linear application from heart rate to performance...

Welcome to Episode 23 of the Trainer’s Bullpen, ‘Offsetting the Negative Consequences of Pressure on Marksmanship’ with Daniel Cooper. In this interview Dan discusses the relationship between stress arousal and officer performance with firearms in combat conditions. Importantly, Daniel discusses the very important systematic review and meta-analysis that he and colleagues conducted that reinforced...

Welcome to Episode 22 of Trainers Bullpen, the ‘Evaluation of Tactical Movement and Firearm Draw Performance During Charging Knife Attacks’ with Dr. Michael Kantor Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology at Ohio Northern University.  It is of course no surprise to law enforcement officers and trainers that edged weapons can pose a lethal threat to officers. Many of the critical blood bearing ve...

Effective law enforcement trainers know the critical importance of conducting force-on-force high-fidelity training. The ability to develop highly adaptable and resilient officers, capable of making excellent decisions during complex and rapidly unfolding events rests squarely on the effectiveness and ‘reality-based’ nature of their training. However, over the past year there has , yet again, been...

With thousands of policing agencies scrambling in recent years to change use of force policies and provide 'deescalation' training to their officers and millions if not billions of dollars being spent to provide this training, do we know if it is even making a difference to impact officer performance on the street? Interestingly, despite widespread promotion and proliferation of deescalati...

In this insightful interview, human factors expert Gareth Lock discusses the critical aspects of how we should understand sense-making and decision making especially in ambiguous and high-consequence environments. The research shows that if performers have 'successful' outcome following a near-miss, then our perception of the risk is lowered and therefore we are more likely to erode vital...

Shawn Myszka is a Movement Skill Acquisition Coach for NFL players, having worked with numerous All-Pro and Pro Bowl team members. He is also the Founder of the Sport Movement Skill Conference and author of articles and educational materials on mastering movement in sports. Shawn discusses the relevance and value of Bruce Lee's coaching philosophy in movement skill acquisition for law enforcem...

Law enforcement officers know that their mental toughness is of critical importance on the job. The ability to remain focussed and maintain emotional regulation, to overcome adversity and conflict, and even injury and pain, in order to professionally and effectively manage situations is extremely important. But how do we understand effective ways in which to intentionally and strategically incorpo...

This is the second episode in our exciting three-part series on the use of performance enhancement imagery to improve officers skill aquisition, decision making and mental resilience. Dr. Arne Nieuwenhuys is Senior Lecturer in Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology. He obtained his PhD from VU University Amsterdam. Dr Nieuwenhuys and colleagues published the study “Positive Effects of Police O...

This part 1 of an exciting 3-part series in which we explore the effective use of performance enhancement imagery. In law enforcement it is generally accepted that officer mental toughness and mental focus is critical for great decision making and performance. Despite this, very few trainers utilize any type of formalized mental training program. In multiple other domains, the use of mental imager...