Free Education Is A Good Thing
By Frank Borelli
In the world of military and law enforcement operations there tends to be a huge amount of structured training. For all that there is, once the feces have hit the oscillating rotator, it hardly ever seems like you've been properly trained. Experience is the best teacher. Still, when you can gain more knowledge or learn a new skill, most of us try to. Better yet, when you can do so for free, there's no excuse NOT to. Enter the Police Officers Safety Association (POSA). POSA is a non-profit organization that distributes DVDs for free (you just pay shipping) about a variety of topics. This week we're going to look at the DVDs currently available and the value they represent.
Anyone who regularly reads articles about guns or knives has heard the name Ralph Mroz. Ralph is an experienced officer and trainer from the North East section of the United States. I first met Ralph at a writer's conference and, after a couple of conversations, considered myself lucky to have made his acquaintance. The amount of knowledge and experience that Ralph has to offer is overwhelming. The fact that he can perform skills while clearly articulating them at any level is impressive.
Ralph was the leading force behind the creation of the Police Officers Safety Association. POSAI (the I is for Inc.) was created specifically to provide free and low cost training to the law enforcement community both to increase officer safety and to increase duty performance. In a world where everyone is looking to turn a quick easy dollar, to see an organization formed that attempts to accomplish such admirable goals without the focus on getting rich is, in itself, admirable. I tip my hat to the organization.
Through the partnership with PoliceOne.com, POSAI vets all those who can order their training DVDs. The DVDs are only available to sworn police officers and POSAI leverages PoliceOne.com's verification process. The DVDs are created by POSAI together with DutySafe (see images right), compiled, edited, produced and distributed. Typically, a police officer can get one of these DVDs for a shipping and handling charge of $5.
I used the Firearms Disarming & Retention training DVD to capture the images shown here. All images are the property of POSAI and used here with their permission only for the purpose of reviewing their products / DVD based training.
Currently there are seven DVDs available from POSAI:
- Firearm Disarming & Retention
- Tactical Knife Skills
- Basic Tactical Shotgun
- Basic Crisis Entry
- Close Quarters Shooting
- Force-on-Force Simulation Instructor
- The Defensive Snubby Lessons from the Masters
Now, every time I talk with Ralph it's an on-going joke that I just don't get how much people still enjoy the snub-nosed revolver in the northeast. It's almost cult-like, the following that these little five or six shot weapons have. All laughs aside, the materials covered in that particular DVD are applicable not only for revolvers, but also, by and large, for anyone carrying a small concealed weapon. Tactics are tactics are tactics.
Each DVD is carefully planned and laid out so that requisite knowledge is delivered first, safety issues in training addressed, etc. and then basic skills are demonstrated and explained. As the skills build upon each other each is further demonstrated and explained. The star of the show is Ralph Mroz and his background in training makes him a good teacher on televsion (or your computer) too. The camera angles necessary to capture the intricate work in some skills are carefully attended to. The detailed motions required in some motions are also clearly shown and explained. And if you're simply having a hard time "getting it" then you can rewind and replay the DVD from the point you require. That's the beauty of the DVD. You can see it and hear it the same way each time until you understand it. Practice it as many times as you'd like with the instructor doing it the same way every time. This is, in some ways, an improvement on having a live instructor in class that demonstrates the same skill five times... five different ways. Sometimes little differences matter.
Take a look through that list of topics listed above again. I'm sure you can find something there that interests you or would benefit your agency. Visit www.posai.org and see what they're about. Training resources usually aren't to be had inexpensively. These are. At $5 per DVD, you can get a lot of training material for use in your own programs if you're a trainer. If you have any questions, Ralph is great about answering his email and the link to send such questions is on their website.
I'm in the process of using my collection of these DVDs to build in-service approved training here in Maryland. Would your department benefit from the same such program?
BE SAFE!!!
By Frank Borelli
In the world of military and law enforcement operations there tends to be a huge amount of structured training. For all that there is, once the feces have hit the oscillating rotator, it hardly ever seems like you've been properly trained. Experience is the best teacher. Still, when you can gain more knowledge or learn a new skill, most of us try to. Better yet, when you can do so for free, there's no excuse NOT to. Enter the Police Officers Safety Association (POSA). POSA is a non-profit organization that distributes DVDs for free (you just pay shipping) about a variety of topics. This week we're going to look at the DVDs currently available and the value they represent.
Anyone who regularly reads articles about guns or knives has heard the name Ralph Mroz. Ralph is an experienced officer and trainer from the North East section of the United States. I first met Ralph at a writer's conference and, after a couple of conversations, considered myself lucky to have made his acquaintance. The amount of knowledge and experience that Ralph has to offer is overwhelming. The fact that he can perform skills while clearly articulating them at any level is impressive.
Ralph was the leading force behind the creation of the Police Officers Safety Association. POSAI (the I is for Inc.) was created specifically to provide free and low cost training to the law enforcement community both to increase officer safety and to increase duty performance. In a world where everyone is looking to turn a quick easy dollar, to see an organization formed that attempts to accomplish such admirable goals without the focus on getting rich is, in itself, admirable. I tip my hat to the organization.
Through the partnership with PoliceOne.com, POSAI vets all those who can order their training DVDs. The DVDs are only available to sworn police officers and POSAI leverages PoliceOne.com's verification process. The DVDs are created by POSAI together with DutySafe (see images right), compiled, edited, produced and distributed. Typically, a police officer can get one of these DVDs for a shipping and handling charge of $5.
I used the Firearms Disarming & Retention training DVD to capture the images shown here. All images are the property of POSAI and used here with their permission only for the purpose of reviewing their products / DVD based training.
Currently there are seven DVDs available from POSAI:
- Firearm Disarming & Retention
- Tactical Knife Skills
- Basic Tactical Shotgun
- Basic Crisis Entry
- Close Quarters Shooting
- Force-on-Force Simulation Instructor
- The Defensive Snubby Lessons from the Masters
Now, every time I talk with Ralph it's an on-going joke that I just don't get how much people still enjoy the snub-nosed revolver in the northeast. It's almost cult-like, the following that these little five or six shot weapons have. All laughs aside, the materials covered in that particular DVD are applicable not only for revolvers, but also, by and large, for anyone carrying a small concealed weapon. Tactics are tactics are tactics.
Each DVD is carefully planned and laid out so that requisite knowledge is delivered first, safety issues in training addressed, etc. and then basic skills are demonstrated and explained. As the skills build upon each other each is further demonstrated and explained. The star of the show is Ralph Mroz and his background in training makes him a good teacher on televsion (or your computer) too. The camera angles necessary to capture the intricate work in some skills are carefully attended to. The detailed motions required in some motions are also clearly shown and explained. And if you're simply having a hard time "getting it" then you can rewind and replay the DVD from the point you require. That's the beauty of the DVD. You can see it and hear it the same way each time until you understand it. Practice it as many times as you'd like with the instructor doing it the same way every time. This is, in some ways, an improvement on having a live instructor in class that demonstrates the same skill five times... five different ways. Sometimes little differences matter.
Take a look through that list of topics listed above again. I'm sure you can find something there that interests you or would benefit your agency. Visit www.posai.org and see what they're about. Training resources usually aren't to be had inexpensively. These are. At $5 per DVD, you can get a lot of training material for use in your own programs if you're a trainer. If you have any questions, Ralph is great about answering his email and the link to send such questions is on their website.
I'm in the process of using my collection of these DVDs to build in-service approved training here in Maryland. Would your department benefit from the same such program?
BE SAFE!!!
