MS – Use of Force Analysis for Law Enforcement Leaders

Gulfport Police Department  – MS
Hosts
Use of Force Investigation and Analysis for Police Leaders
Jan 28 – 29, 2025   0830 – 1630 Hours

It was both an honor and a pleasure to present our Use of Force Analysis for Law Enforcement Leaders course hosted by the Gulfport MS Police Department on January 28-29, 2025. The training brought together officers from multiple law enforcement and correctional agencies in the surrounding areas, fostering a collaborative and engaging learning environment.

The course was exceptionally well received, with all participants demonstrating enthusiasm, professionalism, and a strong commitment to the training. Their active participation greatly contributed to the success of the program. A review of the course evaluations revealed overwhelmingly positive feedback, reflecting the value and impact of the training. For your reference, I have attached an assessment of the evaluations.

A special thank you to Officer Troy Carpenter for his outstanding efforts in coordinating and promoting the training. His dedication ensured a seamless experience for both attendees and instructors, and his continuous outreach played a key role in maximizing participation.

Please provide a written comment on the quality of the presentation.

Comments
• Exceeded expectations. Valuable information to take back to the agency. New ideas and procedures to implement and re-evaluate current policies training and procedures.
• Excellent content, showing the weaknesses of our department has with use of force reporting.
• Presentation material was very informative and valuable, very knowledgeable and current with information relevant to law enforcement.
• Presentation was easy to follow along.
• It was great!
• Very eye opening and extremely informative. Keeps you engaged.
• lots of great information in a new perspective on use of force.
• Lt. Dillon is a dynamic speaker and relays highly relevant information that is useful to any department.
• Animated, thus kept the class entertaining. The use of videos to break up death by PowerPoint was great. Lt. Dillon’s understanding of the content was clearly demonstrated during this instruction. It was a good mixture of information and video. The presentation was interactive, interesting, and appropriate for my department. KD knows his material and teaches it effectively and efficiently.
• It was captivating and well-presented videos and PowerPoints were relatable and informative
• Well informed with updated information
• Good combination of PowerPoint, video, speaking and visuals. Helps keep the attention of the attendees. The quality of this presentation was great! A lot of diagrams, videos, explanations. The presentation was not all slides with bullet point sentences.
• Very good information some of the booklet PowerPoint information was blocked by pop up type boxes also some slides were not in the print version.

Please assess the instructors of this program.

Comments
• Lt. Dillon is very passionate about his program in teaching. Highly recommend to attend future trainings. Will recommend this to the Mississippi Chiefs of Police Conference training.
• KD made the learning environment enjoyable. He presented the material in a way that kept our attention. Probably the best instructor I’ve ever had in a law enforcement training class.
• Lt. Dillon is very knowledgeable and gave up to date information regarding use of force instructor, is very knowledgeable about subject material. His presentation kept class engaged and attentive.
• Great presentation and very informative. I have learned quite a bit and I will take it back to my PD
• He was great.
• Sometimes hard to follow – some things are interpreted differently in the south.
• Engaging in lots of energy and informative.
• Very knowledgeable and adept at relaying his knowledge in a relatable manner, using various presentation tactics to read multiple learning styles.
• Presentation transfer was great allowing myself to retrieve the information to the utmost capacity. Attention was designed great to keep in attentive.
• KD did an excellent job, he was knowledgeable and commanding.

Please explain how this training will enable you to change or improve your present assignment.

Comments
• We now have new optics to look at use of force situations.
• I teach response to resistance to our new employees so I have a new perspective of use of force that I can offer.
• Data tracking
• 1. review current SOP 2. will continue to follow up in studying neurology and its effect on outcomes.
• A review of use of force on my shift. It will allow me to provide a new outlook and perspective. Officers may feel more confident when using force.
• Re-assess hands on training, transitional training, use of force policies. Implement A use of force panel board to review use of force, better understanding of how the brain operates under stress.
• I will be speaking with my command staff to add more defensive tactics training. Also on shift training with multiple officers as an instructor, I will be able to add the importance of appropriate verbiage in writing reports. I will recommend relying on data gathered from incidents to evaluate our training standards
• Will definitely improve our tracking. Plan on immediate changes to info we track and are in the process of updating response to resistance and aggression forms which this will influence. We’ll have much more educated viewpoint to conduct reviews now.
• This will help me remind other supervisors and all not be biased on their review. I will make sure I look through everything report, interview and video last.
• Show me how I have had bias when reviewing use of force.
• It helped me identify and confirmed an issue that I need to address immediately
• I will definitely help me as I analyze all use of force incidents in the jail
• Will give me more open view of understanding how some people’s brains receive information to the way they output it. More aspect into why some decisions are made and why we need more training.
• I am working on reconstructing the DT program for our law enforcement Academy, as well as refresher curriculum for my agency. This course provides current statistics and views to support my curriculum to better my officers and cadets.
• This will help me while reviewing body cams on use of force. This will also help me teach younger officers how to slow down and take a deep breath while also maintaining their composure. This knowledge needs to be taught more
• I am the lead DT at GPD and I’m going to push for shorter training blocks across various days during orientation to help with retention.

Today every use of force incident is scrutinized frame by frame and judged by untrained individuals  creating distrust and false narratives. Use of force  analysis, investigation, and training is a complex continually evolving  issue.   This 2-day training session is designed for Police Leaders who, review, report,  instruct, or investigates police use of force incidents. The training will examine the most recent and up to date issues that specifically impact Leaders, IA investigators, and trainers concerning police use of force incidents. This course breaks down  multiple issues ranging from curriculum design, use of force reporting, tracking and trending, and  investigation involving police use of force encounters. Instruction uses  lectures, case studies, and  demonstrations.  “One improper technique changed the county!”    

• Legal applications of use of force – What is being reported
• Early intervention tracking for use of force
• Reducing liability in use of force by deploying de-escalation strategies and documentation
• Quantification of force mitigation tactics and de-escalation
• Strategies on responding to individuals that are considered special populations
• Identify 5 steps to of reviewing use of force incidents.
• How to avoid an “Eric Garner or George Floyd Incident”
• What steps have you taken to identify foreseeable incidents?
• Define and categorize sixteen definitions pertaining to police use of force
• Discuss human performance factors that occur under stressful encounters
• What to look for when tracking police use of force
• Training curriculum selection and review
• Grounding subjects
• Officer-associated prone restraint sudden deaths myths
• Coordination and strategies dealing with multiple officer engagements
• Training measurements and performance – You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
• Video recording issues regarding viewing and reporting
• Immediate press release strategies… Plus more.

REGISTER 

ONLY $395.00
Course Flier

Gulfport Police Dept.
2220 15^th Street – Gulfport, MS 39501
Training Officer Troy A. Carpenter
Professional Standards Bureau
 tcarpenter@gulfport-ms.gov / 228-868-5796

Use of Force Analysis and Investigation
for the Law Enforcement / Correctional Leader
Knox County Sheriff’s Office – TN
Jan 30-31, 2024

Please assess the quality of this presentation.
Comments
• K.D. (Lt. Dillon) did an excellent job explaining the importance of keeping data to mitigate lawsuits. He was very entertaining and made the two days enjoyable.
• Theatrical! Very good. Enjoy, applicable, practical, current.
• Very informative
• Material was current and applied to corrections and patrol equally.
• The presentation was very informative and interactive Lieutenant Dillon has a well-balanced presentation PowerPoint, videos, experience.
• Great videos, Kevin did a great job, sometimes it was difficult to hear when facing away from the class.
• Video presentation went along well with the training.

Please assess the instructors of this program. Lieutenant Kevin Dillon (Ret)
Comments
• Quality, knowledgeable, experienced
• KD was very enjoyable, and it is obvious he knows from experience what he is talking about.
• Knowledgeable and kept the class active
• Instructor was proficient in relating material to real world
• Instructor did a great job he was very knowledgeable and personable.
• Nothing short of amazing! The best I’ve seen in a very long time
• Extremely knowledgeable
• Very knowledgeable
• Very knowledgeable and great energy

Please explain how this training will enable you to change or improve your present assignment.
Comments
• It’s an eye opener for me. I learned a lot of material that I was ignorant to. I can now take what I’ve learned and share and expose to my officers.
• This drills and information I have been taught, but from a different standpoint. We are quantifying the proper information. 
• I am going to keep better stats, for my assigned facility on use of force. I am also going to work with our frontline supervisors in getting staff to write more efficient reports.
• It will improve our policy and practices to better serve our officers and community.
• Allow students to analyze actual use of force incidents. Provide scenarios for students to review and provide feedback.
• This training will allow me to help facilities to better documentation and training officers on use of force.