Officers stay nimble through continuing education on the job

NEW BEDFORD- The New Bedford Police Department is currently offering extensive training to officers in the areas of leadership growth and personal development. Both subjects are critical to success as a police officer and in the ability to interpret the practices of de-escalation and duty to intervene.

One of the professional development courses focuses on sharing relevant, proven research on human effectiveness, positive psychology, leadership development, and neuroscience. “Blue Courage” addresses the ‘whole person’ and is designed to address many of the challenges police officers can face, including stress and other health issues.

Another workshop “Polishing the Badge” looks at personal and interpersonal levels of leadership and accountability. Through role rehearsal simulation and case study analysis, it focuses on concepts of self-awareness, self-regulation, mindfulness, and the power of paradigms to increase personal leadership efficacy.

Chief Joseph Cordeiro underscored the value of continuous improvement and regular educational opportunities for police officers at every stage of their careers. “We are committed to ensuring our officers are trained in the latest available approaches to ensure they are grounded in what it takes to meet the needs of today’s world,” said Cordeiro.

“Blue Courage showed the most impactful change I can make to improve my interactions and relationships with the community to serve is myself. The same lesson also applies to my personal life. Trainings like Blue Courage and Polishing the Badge are really helpful in identifying ways we can improve as individuals, police officers and future leaders,” said Officer Marc Felix, who has participated in both programs.

The feedback from Officers for both programs has been supportive and encouraging. “We had one Officer tell us ‘I only wish I would have had this training 20 years ago. My job and life might have been easier’ while another said he was tired but kept going because ‘this is the best training I have ever been to,’” said Cordeiro.
For more information on training happening at the NBPD, please contact Melissa Batchilder at 508-991-6300 Ext. 79428.