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Arming Calgary Police Service with ForceTenTM

Calgary Police Service
The learning domain is managed within the Calgary Police Service (CPS) at the Chief Crowfoot Learning Centre (CCLC) through the CPS Multimedia Unit. For the Calgary Police Service, the decision to adopt Eedo ForceTen (Learning Content Management System) combined with a Learning Management System (LMS) system resulted from the convergence of eight pressing needs. The following describes those needs and identifies how ForceTen coupled with an LMS provided a complete solution for the Calgary Police Service.

Young Workforce
Similar to every other government and business sector in North America, the police service in Calgary has been adapting to the changing demographics of the workforce, particularly with respect to the accelerated rate of retirement of senior officers. Due to this trend, it is critical the CPS foster their growth by ensuring their young officers move upward in their careers as rapidly as possible. As a result, e-Learning has become one of the key contributors for an increase in knowledge management. Today’s “Street” is younger and more computer-proficient than previous generations, making self-service learning a natural choice.

Accessible, Distributed Learning
To be truly accessible, the CPS learning content must be conveniently situated and available on demand. Patrol Officers do not have desks and offices, as a result they must access e-Learning at central locations. The City of Calgary is divided into Police Districts and various network technologies are used to tie these Districts into Police Headquarters. ForceTen was selected for many reasons, one in particular was for its ability to stably provide content through a browser on the CPS secure intranet. In addition to this was the need to respond to the rotational shifts of police officers who require 24/7 availability. The combination of ForceTen and an LMS was first tested as a hosted implementation “pilot” and then was moved to the CPS Intranet once the purchasing decision was made.

Risk Management
Police forces require a high degree of homogeneity to ensure a coordinated and consistent response to high risk situations. For example, one of the highest-risk situations that police officers will encounter is a high-speed pursuit. In these situations, everyone is at risk – the public, the offenders and the police officers. As part of the implementation process, CPS invested in the development of an extensive e-Learning program that is now the basis of a periodic recertification which is required for all officers. This program leverages a variety of key assets – including animations, test questions and policy and procedure documents.

Tracking Access
Historically, it was difficult to know with certainty if training bulletins and other media were being utilized. if they were utilized, did the officers comprehend and retain the material? With ForceTen in hand, the CPS multimedia development group moved beyond desktop publishing and into the production of interactive learning experiences. They created reusable templates for delivery of new training bulletins and videos in a standardized fashion… and added banks of test questions to allow officers to demonstrate their comprehension of the material. The CCLC uses a 100 % achievement model for testing in which any time limits are removed in favour of requiring a 100% achievement on tests. Remedial and reference assets are always included to ensure that all officers can reach the 100% achievement level.

Feedback from the “Street”
Another important mandate of the e-Learning system was to foster and facilitate feedback from the “Street” to the CCLC. This is a quality-assurance process that allows officers to have input after a course is produced and released. The CCLC uses ForceTen and the LMS to gather information from:

• usage data
• impact studies
• reaction surveys

Blended Learning
Whenever possible, CCLC Instructional Technology Designers provide blended learning experiences. Classroom-based training for officers is not only a costly proposition, it is also difficult to arrange due to the nature of shift work. The CCLC uses ForceTen and the LMS to deliver the “knowledge” portion of learning so that it can be accessed in advance by officers. This establishes a common knowledge threshold in officers before they come in for group training or re-certifications. They can then quickly progress to the “hands-on” or other types of practical training and resume their day-to-day policing faster. The blended learning solution is serving as a catalyst in improving the professionalism and quality of their service to the citizens of Calgary.

Just-in-Time Learning
On a day-to-day basis, police forces use the “parade” at the start of each shift as a time to communicate vital information to Patrol Officers. However, sudden changes can occur in the legal framework that enables the police to do their work; sometimes these changes are triggered by new legislation or by court precedent. With its infrastructure of ForceTen and the LMS, the CCLC is equipped to rapidly produce Just-in-Time content for situations that require more attention than is possible during the parade. When combined with completion tracking ability, the CPS gains assurance that it has successfully distributed new information to its frontline officers.

Leveraging Assets in Multiple Directions
As ForceTen is adopted by other police services in Canada (Edmonton, and most recently the Durham Region in Ontario) the Calgary Police Service increasingly gains the ability to exchange or recycle learning content. This means each police service can eliminate costs of redundant production. They can produce customized training media best suited to their development strengths and priorities, and then freely share across the country.