Getting a Grip

• NCJ Number: 220867
• Date Published: October 2007
• Length: 2 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-MU-CX-K077
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This article describes a driver safety training system for law enforcement officers currently in use in Alaska.

Abstract

In Alaska, law enforcement officers develop and sharpen defensive driving skills through a program sponsored by the Alaska Police Standards Council which combines technology, mobility, and trained instructors to teach officers to protect their own lives while trying to protect others. The goal of the program is to provide skills to law enforcement officers, teaching them to drive proactively; the focal point of the training is a proactive skid control driver training system that attaches to an ordinary car allowing drivers to remain in a slow-driving environment and still experience the sensations of driving in slippery conditions or in higher speed slides. Instruction on the system takes approximately 2.5 hours; the first 30 minutes is spent in the classroom while the remaining two hours are hands-on training in the vehicle with four drivers alternating turns behind the wheel and observing from the back seat. National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC)-Northwest located in Anchorage, cosponsors a train-the-trainer program for driving instructors, transporting the training equipment around the State at no cost to the police department receiving the training. In 2006, eight police driving instructors from around the State received the advanced training, and in turn trained 225 officers in the course.