Four Ways a Police Training Management System (TMS) Helps Meet Evolving Training Requirements

Public safety’s core mission centers around a safer and stronger community. However, policing best practices can sometimes change more quickly than agencies have the bandwidth to adapt to. Adopting technology that supports this core mission and enables agencies to be flexible to change can reduce the challenges associated with incorporating new best practices.

For this reason, a police training management system (TMS) is no longer a luxury that only the largest law enforcement entities can afford. Instead, a TMS is a necessity for all law enforcement agencies and academies to ensure compliance with evolving operational requirements and new legislative mandates that alter the way law enforcement entities function and train.

1. A TMS will streamline and consolidate

Think about all the tools and processes you currently use to facilitate day-to-day operations and training at your agency. Like most law enforcement training organizations, you likely provide training on a variety of subjects and through multiple means (online, in-person, and hands-on)—often with each segment using its own unique tools and processes.

A TMS learning system helps manage the entire training process by providing critical tools for every training-related task and integrating training data with other systems.

This capability becomes even more valuable in the context of adapting to change. When your tools are software-based and can easily share training data as needed, it is easier to pivot in accordance with new laws, reporting requirements, or other needs.

2. A TMS gives you control over the training experience

The last few years have demonstrated just how quickly policing can change. Luckily, today’s law enforcement agencies can adopt technology and police training software that allows them to do things like:

• Track and deliver training with just a few clicks
• Easily record and report training progress
• Distribute and house relevant training materials
• Share training records as needed with overseeing entities or as requested

…and do so in a hurry. When using a police training management system, you get automation and tools that simplify all the components of your blended training program. A TMS makes it easy to deliver, track, report, and navigate from online training to your live training environment and back as needed—which means neither permanent nor temporary changes to training processes hinder your ability to provide education and certification.

3. A TMS gives you the ability to pivot—granularly

Making quick changes to address events (from disasters to legislative changes) is essential when it comes to law enforcement training. A police training management system allows you to make changes as needed and distribute updated training, policies, and materials to everyone with minimal hassle.

Let’s say a new law goes into effect and it mandates existing training be updated to reflect new standards. Your TMS learning system will let you dive in, quickly make required alterations or import new training materials into the system and begin training on the new standards in far less time than manual or paper-based processes would allow.

4. A police training management system keeps training documentation secure

Whether it’s to comply with records retention requirements, to submit to overseeing entities, to respond to records requests, or to provide as required as part of a litigious process, ensuring records are comprehensive, complete, and available when you need them is an incredibly important part of law enforcement training in 2024.

When training is tracked manually, whether via spreadsheets or paper, law enforcement entities open themselves up to risk, from both inside and outside the agency. Records could be lost or hard to find, training hours might slip through the cracks, and in the event of a lawsuit, either scenario can spell disaster.

In comparison, looping everything into a single ecosystem using a modern TMS—especially one built specifically to meet the needs of law enforcement—ensures all training documentation is safe, secure, and available when it’s needed.

Considering the significant costs that a single lawsuit can inflict on an institution, it’s just another reason you should be considering an upgraded TMS learning system.

Learn more about how a TMS can help you stay compliant with evolving training requirements and simplify law enforcement training processes.

Vector Solutions’ suite of industry-leading software solutions for law enforcement includes training management system, online training courses, FTO/PTO/CTO/live skill evaluations, academy automation, equipment and inventory management, and an early intervention and conduct management system.