Missouri State Highway Patrol Gains Greater Insight Into Training And Centralizes Data With Acadis

The Challenge

With a stated vision to “ensure Missouri is a safe place to live or visit,” the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) is the principal law enforcement body responsible for Missouri’s highways. However, in addition to this key responsibility, MSHP also provides other services to the approximately 6.2 million people who call the state home, including motor vehicle inspections, criminal investigations, public education, and criminal laboratory analysis and research.

Initially founded in 1931, MSHP is now a full-service law enforcement agency with nine troops spread across the state. Since 1992, MSHP has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), successfully undergoing the reaccreditation process every cycle since.

Each year, MSHP’s Academy manages academy and in-service training for the agency’s 1,300 troopers. The academy runs two recruit classes and two commercial vehicle officer classes per year, in addition to providing approximately 40 hours of in-service training to troopers in their headquarters region. Each of the nine troops provides in-service training for their respective troopers, but it is all reported to and tracked by the Academy. Altogether, the MSHP Academy manages a complex training program.

The Choice

Prior to implementing the Acadis® Readiness Suite, the agency utilized spreadsheets and paper to track everything, which according to an Acadis Program Coordinator with MSHP, was a “cumbersome” way of managing it, especially as enrollment numbers grew. Additionally, certain processes, such as grading tests, were done manually by hand.

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

Leadership at the agency began to look for a better way of doing things, with the hope of improving processes and reducing the strain on agency employees.

In 2020, the MSHP selected Acadis to modernize and improve its training operations. During their selection process, it was found that other programs didn’t offer the functionality the agency needed to succeed, including the ability to manage lodging and logistical aspects of their cafeteria through the system. The ability to track everything related to the training academy through one system set Acadis apart from the other options on the market.

The Change 

Through Acadis, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has:

• Standardized and centralized training data into one digital system, drastically reducing the need for spreadsheets or paper-based processes.
• Simplified class registration processes by allowing admins to import recruit data and assign housing at the same time.
• Improved data security by restricting user permissions based on need, which prevents accidental modifications to training records or data.
• Utilized training reports from Acadis to simplify reporting training activities to the Missouri Peace Officer Standards and Training Program (POST).
• Simplified processes that were previously done manually, saving MSHP staff time and energy.
• Ensured all trainees and instructors have the necessary pre-requisites for each class.
• Empowered trainees to review grades, enroll in classes, and other activities through the Acadis portal instead of calling MSPS staff to provide or request information.
• Identified opportunities for growth with the analytics provided by Acadis.

With Acadis, MSHP is saving time and streamlining many tasks that would have previously taken much longer to complete.

“[Acadis] has been a tremendous help as far as data and training,” the Acadis Program Coordinator said.

Now, the agency is able to not only easily import recruit 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 is now submitted via Acadis and automatically reported across the nine troops in the state.

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

Like other administrative functions, testing and course set up can be tedious and time-consuming when managed on paper or via manual processes. However, with Acadis, these functions can be streamlined and automated.

Previously, 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,” the Acadis Program Coordinator 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 helps 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.

“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,” she said.

Customer Profile

• Acadis® 2020
• Approx. 1,300 trainees per year
• 69,715 mi² area
• ~6,250,000 population