How Do We Know If Our Training is Working?

Highlights from a 2025 IADLEST Discussion Panel

The International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving law enforcement by promoting excellence in training and professional standards. The annual IADLEST conference brings together key leaders in law enforcement training, including the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Directors, state and local training academy directors, and international law enforcement leaders.

The 2025 annual IADLEST Conference took place June 1-4 in Charlotte, NC. The panel discussion titled “How Do We Know If Our Training is Working?” drew a large crowd and a lot of audience participation. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all easy answer to this question, the topic prompted a lively and engaging discussion that surfaced several helpful ideas. The specific area of training that was discussed was ongoing in-service training (also called continuing education) for law enforcement officers.

Vector Solutions hosted the June 3, 2025 presentation and was honored to be joined by three panelists and subject matter experts on law enforcement standards and training, which included:

• Brian Grisham, IADLEST Deputy Director
• Brady Carney, Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Director
• Eric Wacaster, Arkansas Division on Law Enforcement Standards and Training Chief Legal Counsel

In-Service Training Mandates Vary from State to State

The presentation began with a review of various state mandates on continued officer training and how POST agencies are leveraging those mandates. According to the 2024 IADLEST Sourcebook*, most states do have in-service/refresher training mandates for law enforcement officers (see Chart #1). However, even though most states mandate a certain number of hours on an annual, biennial, or triennial basis, many states leave the topics for training up to the local agencies—which can be both good and at times, bad. The good aspect of allowing local agencies to determine the topics for training is that it provides local agencies with the flexibility to accommodate training to their respective needs, which vary based on location (i.e. urban vs. rural public safety needs), services provided (i.e. patrol vs. investigations), agency size (e.g. larger agencies may have more specialized roles), etc. Conversely, without accountability some agencies may not offer a comprehensive training program that advances their officers’ skills sets and professional development.

Chart 1: Does Your State Mandate In-Service/Refresher Training for Law Enforcement Officers?

SOURCE: 2024 IADLEST Sourcebook, page 252, Question 252a
NOTE: North Dakota reported “no” in 2024 but now requires 60 hours triennially, with topics and reporting at the discretion of the local agency. The other three states that do not require in-service training are Alaska, New York (for police officers from non-accredited agencies), and Rhode Island. Hawaii is in the process of formalizing its POST mandates.

There is a wide variety of in-service training mandates from state to state. For example, the number of annual in-service hours required varies from 12 to 40 hours across the states, and even those who have the same number of required annual hours (for example Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Utah all mandate 40 hours annually), there is a wide variance in what topics are required and whether the training is vetted by the state. Additionally, some states like California and Iowa (see Chart 2) mandate hours and topics, but do not require the agencies to report the training, thereby leaving the state POST with no insight into what agencies are training on in their state, nor authority to act upon poor training programs.

Chart 2: Iowa In-Service Officer Training Mandates

The Carrot vs. The Stick in Driving Local Agency Accountability

The state POST plays a critical role in the accountability of local agencies providing their officers with the training they need to succeed in law enforcement. However, without statutory authority to mandate training hours, topics, reporting, and the enforcement of the mandates—it is difficult for the state POST to ensure officer training is having a positive impact in their state. As we have discussed, most states have some type of mandate for officer in-service training, albeit with a wide variety of hours, topics, and reporting requirements. However, some states have also leveraged an incentive (“the carrot”) approach rather than a legislative-only (“the stick”) approach.

Currently there are three states in the U.S. that offer law enforcement stipends with requirements tied to training. Tennessee, Louisiana, and Kentucky all offer officer incentive programs and several POST and academy leaders in the session agreed that they prefer the “carrot” to the “stick” approach—yet most agreed that having both the carrot and the stick is even better.

Other suggestions for ensuring officers recieve thorough in-service training and that agencies are accountable for that training offered during the panel discussion included the following:

• Improve communication efforts to local agencies so they know well in advance of training offerings to allow time to register their officers and have time to plan for coverage when they are away
• Offer more online training for cognitive education that officers can take when it works into their schedules
• Leverage municipal associations like the Municipal League of Cities and Sheriff’s/Police Chief’s associations to recruit more collective reinforcement of training
• Revoke NCIC access for agencies not in compliance with training mandates
• Develop professional development tracks (i.e. forensics, leadership, training supervisor, etc.) so that officers can chart a path that not only helps retain them in the profession, but also adds to their job satisfaction

Additional Challenges of Evaluating In-Service Training Effectiveness

Beyond the tactical steps of mandating and collecting local agency officer training data, there are also challenges in the standardization and fragmentation of the data. One audience member said that in her state, there is no standard definitions for some categories like “use of force” and there is no uniformity of data which makes it difficult to analyze. If a state POST lacks the ability to access standardized and accurate data, it is difficult to systematically evaluate how the training is working.

In November of 2024, Vector Solutions conducted a short survey to which 15 state POST Directors replied. Responses to the question “What is the biggest challenge your agency faces in regard to training and certification/in-service management?” largely focused on the topics listed above. See below for six of the 15 responses.

As the discussion moved from statues and authority to data collection and standardization, it rounded off with some great insights into officer training “competency.”

“Compliance doesn’t necessarily mean competency,” said one Academy Director. “We need measurable outcomes and model competency standards that move beyond minimal standards.”

While there may not be a national or even state competency standard today that can be used to answer the question “How do we know if our training is working?”—the first step in establishing such a standard is creating the awareness for the need of one.

“If POST doesn’t define officer competencies, then it will be left for the state legislature to define it for us,” stated one POST Director.

Sharing in a Common Mission of Evolving Officer Training

The law enforcement profession has evolved greatly over the past several decades, in large part because of conversations like these and the collaboration among leaders in the profession. IADLEST has been a key contributor to the development and implementation of training and professional standards in policing, including curriculum development, academy accreditation, instructor certification, the national certification program for training courses, and more.

Vector Solutions’ Acadis Readiness Suite has been a key tool for state POST and academy directors to centralize and standardize their certification and training programs, which is why nearly half of the states in the U.S. use Acadis in their operations.

Vector Solutions is honored to be one of the IADLEST technology partners committed to the evolution and improvement of law enforcement training and compliance. As the ‘supply chain’ to effective law enforcement, officers need training that helps them achieve their agencies’ mission and we all share in this overarching mission of providing officers with the best training and technology tools that help achieve this common mission.

*The 2024 IADLEST Sourcebook is a comprehensive collection of law enforcement training and standards information sourced from a 365-question survey with responses from the 50 Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) agencies in the US.