Upleveling Training: Academy Operations & Certification Testing

Operating a police academy comes with numerous challenges, especially when relying on outdated technology and manual processes. Tools like spreadsheets, paper tests, and scantrons are slow, inefficient, and can create administrative bottlenecks, leading to wasted time and potential risk. Instead, by utilizing modern academy automation software, academies can streamline operations, improve data accuracy, and enhance overall efficiency.

In a recent webinar – “Uplevel Your Peace Officer Training: From Academy to Active Duty, Part 1” – we discussed how academies are partnering with Vector Solutions to achieve those very goals.

Presented by Vector Solutions, the discussion was moderated by ret. Sgt. Doug Kazensky, Senior Solutions Engineer at Vector Solutions and featured:

• Mary-Margaret Roessler, Basic Course Secretary from the Police Training Institute, University of Illinois
• Stephanie Vert, Acadis Program Coordinator – Training Division, Missouri State Highway Patrol
• Scott Branco, Chief Information Officer, Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training
• BJ Schmid, User Support Analyst, Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training

How can academies improve class set up and registration processes with Acadis?

Before a law enforcement officer enters the field, they start as a recruit entering the academy. Depending on the particular location, they might already be hired by a local agency, which is sponsoring their academy attendance, or they might be an individual applying on their own. Either way, they will still need to be registered with the academy and be admitted into a class.

In years past, this might have involved a paper registration form filled out on site or sent to the academy by mail or fax. Now, through modern technology, these activities can be managed digitally.

According to Roessler, prior to implementing Acadis, the Police Training Institute, University of Illinois, utilized paper scantron sheets and other software to create rosters. Unfortunately, the scantron machine eventually broke and the institute was forced to enter everything by hand, which left a lot of room for error. Now, the agency utilizes an online form to collect information from recruits and then import it into Acadis all in one go.

“It’s made it much easier to get all of our recruit information and much less time consuming,” Roessler said.

Using Acadis for class set up and registration has also significantly reduced instances of human error at the institute. While there is still the possibility of recruits entering things like their own email or phone numbers into the online form incorrectly, more of the critical data, such as agency numbers, is already housed in Acadis, further reducing the likelihood of human error.

For the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP), Acadis has completely transformed the registration process.

“Before Acadis, it was a lot of paper. That’s just the only way to put it. A lot of paper, lots of emails,” Vert said. “I’m sure everybody knows that struggle.”

Now, the agency is able to not only easily import cadet data, but they are also able to assign housing at the same time as well, further streamlining the process to get recruits into the system and ready for their first days at the academy.

It’s a similar story for in-service training. Previously done via paper processes, in-service training at the Missouri State Highway Patrol is now submitted via Acadis and automatically reported.

“It’s nothing compared to all the paper we used to handle,” Vert said.

By utilizing Acadis, the agency has also been able to improve data security by restricting user permissions based on need and preventing accidental modifications to training records and data.

“That’s been very helpful,” Vert said.

In Oregon, the Department of Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) is not currently utilizing Acadis for their registration process but is utilizing it in a variety of other ways once classes are up and running.

“Acadis has very successfully helped us manage our academy for 19 years,” Schmid said. “It really does help streamline things.”

In 2024, the academy experienced a backlog of academy applicants and needed to increase class sizes to compensate. Despite the increased complexity, DPSST was able to successfully deplete the backlog.

“I think without Acadis, we would have had a more difficult time with that than it turned out to be,” Schmid said.

Like other areas of the country, Oregon is experiencing a much higher rate of turnover than in years past, which then necessitates getting more recruits through the academy to keep up with that turnover. According to Branco, Acadis has helped DPSST navigate these changes successfully.

“Acadis is great for that piece and the support has been fantastic in getting us up-to-speed on that quicker clock cycle,” Branco said.

How is testing and course set up improved with Acadis?

Setting up classes and getting cadets registered is just the beginning of the administrative workload for law enforcement training academies. Once training is underway, the actual course content and associated testing must be managed. Like other administrative functions at academies, testing and course set up can be tedious and time-consuming when managed on paper or via manual processes. However, through the use of the right technologies, these functions can be streamlined and automated.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has experienced these benefits firsthand. According to Vert, MSHP used to grade every test by hand. Now, all tests, both written and observed, are managed in Acadis.

“It makes it a whole lot easier to grade them,” she said. “The other thing is, now that we’ve got them all in there, it makes it so much easier to run through and update them.”

Acadis’ comprehensive analytics functionality is also helping the agency identify areas or topics that might require additional instruction or tests that may need to be reworked.

“We can easily tell if there are issues and then we review those tests,” she said.

Within the last year, MSHP has also transitioned to using Acadis for applicant testing, and soon, will also be using it for promotional testing as well.

“We used to bring in all the applicants into each troop and sit for two hours and watch them take a paper test…. We don’t do that anymore and that’s been another big step,” Vert said.

In Oregon, the DPSST is taking advantage of Acadis’ online testing functionality to create multiple versions of each test, with randomized questions for each student, to support the integrity of the testing process. The Acadis Online Person Portal has also been beneficial for DPSST.

“The students bring all their own devices, either personal or agency provided…. It’s so nice that they don’t have to go to a specific computer lab to take their test. They can take their tests in the classroom on their laptops or other devices,” Schmid said.

Another feature that supports academic honesty is Acadis’ lockdown browser functionality. According to Roessler, this feature has been an important asset for the Police Training Institute at UOI.

Prior to Acadis, the institute was managing testing on paper, and it took longer for students to know how they performed on each test they took. Now, with Acadis and the lockdown browser technology, the institute can immediately provide students with their test results.

“We give them a laptop when they get here…our IT department makes sure the lockdown browser functionality is on there. At first, we were worried whether students could Google an answer. But the lockdown browser has prevented that,” Roessler said.

Like MSHP, the institute is also benefiting from the additional analytics provided by Acadis.

“We can go back and see, for example, in our use of force block…have they been missing questions? Is this just a poorly written question? Do we need to go over it again?” she explained. “That’s been really nice.”

What more is there to know about Acadis?

Schedule, register, and manage your instructors, resources, and training operations with Acadis® Academy Automation.

• Automatically assign resources

Rooms, equipment, and instructors don’t schedule themselves. But when you create custom rules for your needs, scheduling can automatically assign resources—avoiding conflicts and saving time.

• Housing made easy

Do your students need a place to stay? Track specific needs (such as accessibility), then assign students to buildings easily and efficiently.

• Automate student registration

Publish scheduled classes, automate workflows, and maximize class and testing event fill rates. Each student’s professional history and training data tracked in the system transfers automatically to the course roster, reducing effort and preventing errors.

• Grade, report, and analyze

Automate grading, reporting, and analysis—and continually refine the assessment process—so you can focus on leadership and growth.

• Create custom surveys

Continually improve your training, courses, and other initiatives with a fully integrated survey builder module. Create, customize, and electronically distribute surveys—and store the results for thorough evaluation.

Learn more about the use of technology to uplevel academy operations

Moving away from paper, spreadsheets, and other manual methods of managing training has been one of the easiest and most effective ways for academies to quickly revolutionize their operations. Manual processes often lead to inefficiencies, errors, and time-consuming administrative tasks that take valuable resources away from actual training and other critical tasks.

By partnering with Vector Solutions and implementing Acadis, academies can streamline registration and testing, automate administrative tasks, and centralize training and student records, ensuring cadets receive the training they need for successful careers.

To learn more about what Acadis can do for your law enforcement academy, request a demo today!

Vector Solutions’ suite of industry-leading software solutions includes training management systems, online training courses, FTO and live skill evaluations, academy automation, equipment and inventory management, shift scheduling, and an early intervention and conduct management system.