MA – Overcoming Size Differences for Female Enforcers Massachusetts Municipal Police Academy Training

Overcoming Size Differences for Female Enforcers
Massachusetts Municipal Police Academy Training
Randolph Massachusetts
Feb. 27 – March 1, 2023

This three day course is designed  to address violent encounters dealing with suspects of larger stature. When attempting control larger suspects, size and strength differentials  necessitate combat strategies less reliant on pure upper body strength. The concepts and techniques can be utilized by any officer addressing a larger suspect. The days are hands-on and mentally challenging.  Officers train and drill wearing vest, gun belt and long pants because anything else makes no sense.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Female Enforcers of Massachusetts! It was a pleasure and honor to be able to present our professional development program – Overcoming Size Differences for Female Enforcers on February 27 to March 1, 2023, at the MPTC Academy in Randolph MA.  The training was extremely well received, and all the officers participated actively during the mentally challenging and physically intensive program.  The officers displayed high levels of enthusiasm, dedication, and professionalism throughout the three-day program. A review of the course evaluations revealed an overwhelmingly high satisfaction rating from the attending students of the course.  

Please rate the overall presentation. 24 out of 24 students, 100% of the evaluations collected rated this course presentation at the highest level – Excellent!

• Very informative going over how the brain works, and showing videos relative to certain situations that are being discussed.
• Was the best DT course I have ever taken.
• Amazing. Pace was good. Liked how we spent more time on less moves than little time on more.
• Great pace made it much easier to learn.
• Great, clear and concise instructions.
• Very good. The visual and hands-on were very helpful.
• Really one of the best trainings I have ever been to. Every day flew by.
• Very detailed and informative.
• Really well spoken and topics covered, thorough and relevant.
• Broke everything down step by step.
• Best training I have attended.
• Instructors were extremely knowledgeable.
• The first day with KD (Lt. Kevin Dillon) the brain and how it operates was great. His expertise and knowledge was impressive.
• I enjoyed doing PowerPoint in the beginning of the days and following up with hands-on stuff.
• Best “evah” Training.
• The best training I’ve ever had in my 17 years on the job.
• Great videos and PowerPoint the physical work was amazing.
• Very hands-on. She made sure to watch everyone perform each move to ensure they are correct.
• The presentation was really good. Easy to understand and easy to follow along.

Was this program relevant to your work assignment? 24 out of 24 students, 100% of the evaluations collected rated this course presentation at the highest level – Excellent!

• Very relevant, will be applying this to my job.
• Yes, very physical, department and teach, learned so many things to bring back to the department and academies.
• Yes, especially because we sometimes run an all-female shift.
• Yes
• Yes, I work in the schools, extremely relevant. I learned a lot and excited to transfer it to my everyday training. Yes, I work patrol on nights. very relevant
• Yes!
• Very applicable to all roles of law enforcement. Instructors also assist in how to make movements more appropriate for certain roles.
• Yes, as a patrol officer I encounter people larger size than me every day.

Please comment on the instruction of this program. (Training aids, multimedia etc.) 24 out of 24 students, 100% of the evaluations collected rated this course presentation at the highest level – Excellent!

• Videos were great to demonstrate the points and observe.
• Walkthroughs are very helpful. Good at individualizing needs.
• Like that it wasn’t an overwhelming amount, because I got to practice more on what we learned.
• Great!
• Clear and concise and when it was confusing it was cleared up very quickly.
• No boring PowerPoints at any time, everything was mentally stimulating.
• PowerPoint was engaging and related to the physical aspect of the training, which was extremely helpful.
• Loved the integration of video, assessments, and discussions.
• Good mix of PowerPoint, book and hands on application of skills.
• PowerPoint /videos very informative and interesting, not boring. Instructors were fun and used humor to keep us engaged.
• Everyone was friendly, things were very easy to understand.
• Made it simple to follow no matter how complex the movements.
• Toni (Toni Weinbeck) breaks everything down by the numbers which makes it so easy to learn the moves.
• I am a visual learner. I like the chunking technique and all live demonstrations in the real videos in the PowerPoint.

Would you recommend this training to other officers? 100% recommended this course to their peers.
24 out of 24 students of the evaluations collected rated the course presentation at the highest level – Excellent.

• Yes, very beneficial for women of all sizes in how to use your body to your advantage.
• I have already told other female officers to take this class.
• Every female officer should take this.
• Absolutely!
• She was amazing! (Toni Weinbeck) great personality and she did a great job describing the moves.
• Yeah, 100% very helpful
• I would 100% recommend this training to other female officers.
• I think everyone should get this.
• I think this course should be mandatory in all departments. And I think it would be even better with half male and half females.
• This training should be mandatory for all officers and taking every year.
• Yes, without hesitation.
• Absolutely. Everyone should be taking this course and it should be a yearly refresher.
• 100%, huge wake up and above and beyond what was expected. 

Please assess the instructors of this program. Instructors – Inspector Toni Weinbeck, Lt. Kevin Dillon (ret)
Dennis Hatstat, Tony Eydenberg and Earl Johnson. 100 % of attending student rated this category at the highest level – Excellent.

• All highly competent, personable, and good at giving direction.
• Explained every technique and instruction excellently.
• Nice, helpful
• Approachable and very knowledgeable
• They were great, knowledgeable. It was nice for MASS officers to be in the room as well, to assure us what’s OK in our state versus where Toni is from.
• Instructors were amazing. They all made sure we understood the curriculum before moving forward.
• Toni was extremely knowledgeable and really understood how to explain each technique. I’ve had instructors who get mad explaining things, and you can tell that she loves teaching.
• Instructors were extremely helpful and knowledgeable. They were willing to help with changing anything if needed.
• Toni and K.D. have great teaching styles, never boring. would have liked more hands-on with men of different sizes to apply what was learned, confidence it can actually be applied.
• Excellent. Thorough. Took the time to explain, corrected without being rude.
• Toni was amazing. It is so nice to have a female so knowledgeable and who also runs the course. Seeing her do the movements on male instructors showed how it could work in real life scenarios.
• All instructors were very helpful and knowledgeable.
• KD is very energetic in explosive with presenting and groundwork period Tony was amazing, she pushed us at a great pace and got us out of our comfort zones. She also had us switch partners often so we all made new friends.
• All instructors were knowledgeable and personable. They cared that we were performing the moves right and we were safe in having fun.

Officers learn:
L.O.C.K.U.P. Police Training System and Principles
· Risk Assessment and Threat Indicators
· Ground Fighting Counter Measures
· Fear Management and Control
· Fighting Techniques and Fatigue
· Understanding Weapon Integration
· Decisive Takedown Manipulations
· Active Diffusion Strategies
· Team Approach and Strategies
· Understanding Mass / Power and Kinetic Energy
· Overcoming/ Understanding Size Challenges
· Using Your Size to Your Benefit
· Proper Weapon and Target Selection
· Taser to Physical Control