Wrap: Missouri's Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission has proposed requirements for officers that would require them to take courses focusing on mental health awareness and racial and cultural issues after instances of unrest in Ferguson. The standards did not address when it is appropriate to use lethal force.

Department of Public Safety Director Lane Roberts said these news standards puts Missouri among the highest in the nation for continuing education.

Actuality:	ROBERTS.WAV
Run Time:	00:13
Description: "The new rules effectively double the required hours for training related to culture and race, would mandate continuing education and mental health awareness, fair and impartial policing, implicit bias, critical thinking and social intelligence."

Some law enforcement officials said they were concerned about the potential over-reliance on web-based training resources and whether the commission was addressing problems that occur statewide.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Jill Ornitz.

 

 

Wrap: The state's police training commission approved new proposed standards for continuing education and police officer training, emphasizing education on mental health awareness and racial and cultural issues after episodic unrest in Ferguson.

The ability to complete this education online had Kansas City's Public Safety Institute Director Rusty Sullivan concerned about the inability to communicate freely online.

Actuality:	SULLIVAN.WAV
Run Time:	00:16
Description: "I feel very strongly that if you don't put a limit on that training, the very thing that's causing our conflict could be eliminated with social interaction. The ability to read somebody's body language, the ability to talk to somebody, the ability to communicate back and forth freely."

Other officers were concerned about whether the standards address problems that do not occur statewide. The standards did not include educational requirements to determine when it is appropriate to use lethal force.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Jill Ornitz.

Wrap: Missouri's police training commission has introduced proposed training to cover mental health awareness, implicit bias recognition and racial and cultural issues following multiple periods of unrest in Ferguson. The proposed training does not include education on when lethal force is justifiable.

Atchison County Sheriff Dennis Martin said he was not sure increased training could help officers who do not have the required personalities to be in the field.

Actuality:	MARTIN.WAV
Run Time:	00:14
Description: "I've got a deputy that teaches in one of the academies. He comes back and tells me about tactical communication, like the gentleman that spoke a while ago. And their tactical communication is, 'stop, quit doing that, boom, here comes a taser.'"

Other law enforcement educators said they were concerned the training requirements would put too great an emphasis on online education.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Jill Ornitz.