6 PRO TIPS FOR BUYING A

LAW ENFORCEMENT LEARNING

MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Training is essential.
Make it count with an LMS.

As a law enforcement administrator or training
manager, it may seem like you face more training
requirements every year. Because you do!
Evolving threats, such as the use of vehicles in
domestic terrorism and the increase in opioid
overdose calls, necessitate training that will keep
your officers and community safe. At the same
time, state legislatures frequently pass new
training requirements on topics as wide-ranging
as mandated reporting of child abuse, implicit
bias, de-escalation and dog encounters.
(LMS) can help. Law enforcement agencies
across the country use learning management
systems to save money, streamline training and
more effectively track and report continuing
education hours.
The consequences of inadequate law
enforcement training include penalties,
reputational damage, officer and civilian
injuries, and even lawsuits. With risks this
high, investing in an LMS is a decision you
can’t afford to get wrong.

All these requirements mean every minute

of training needs to count, and administering
Following are six pro tips to
training needs to be simple and effective. ensure you get it right.
Fortunately, a learning management system
 Know your recertification and
PRO TIP #1
mandated topic training requirements.

Every department’s training needs are unique.

Selecting an LMS that meets your needs starts
with developing a deep understanding of the
topics you need to cover.

Start simple by identifying federal or state mandates,

such as communicable disease and sexual harassment training.
How many hours does your state standards and training
commission require each officer to take annually?
What percentage of those hours can be completed online?

Next, conduct a training needs assessment to dig a little

deeper. Needs assessments take into account the tenure of your
officers, their experience and skills sets, and the types of calls
your agency responds to most often. Also consider topics your
officers need for continuous learning and career development.

Combine your mandated training with the additional topics identified in your training assessment
and compare this list to the course library of the LMS you’re considering. No LMS will provide
everything you need to train on—that’s why it’s also important to be able to use the LMS to build
courses and upload training materials—but there should be a good alignment between your training
needs and what the LMS offers.
 Ensure you’ll be able to track
PRO TIP #2
offline training.

If you could track every minute your officers spend

learning, annual compliance requirements would be
a lot less burdensome.

An LMS can help you capture elusive training minutes and apply them
toward requirements—even when the training is conducted outside the LMS. For
example, you probably use roll call or daily briefing to review key topics or trends.
If you want to credit each shift for 15 minutes of training during roll call, you
can do so by selecting everyone in attendance through the LMS and
documenting their training in a topic such as investigation, pursuit
or officer safety.

Accurately accounting for impromptu

training opportunities can decrease
the time officers are off the street
participating in more formal training.
In addition, studies have shown the
effectiveness of “microlearning”—
short segments of training such
as roll call. If such training is so
effective, you certainly want
it to count toward annual
requirements.
PRO TIP #3 Don’t stop at training.

The primary objective of an LMS is to enhance your training program,

but it’s a mistake not to look for other benefits too, such as features
that improve communication, records management and professional
development.

Consider whether the following features would benefit your agency and
if so, ask for them!

Onboarding. Bringing new officers up to speed quickly and

efficiently is key. Look for an LMS that offers the ability to bundle
courses required by your city or county with department-specific
new hire training.

Learning plans. Similar to onboarding, an LMS can help you deliver

consistent training across the department and within specific divisions
or groups, such as SWAT, K-9 handlers or supervisors. Learning plans
can cover required training and career path curriculum. Delivering
consistent training mitigates liability, while providing officers with
transparent career development paths aids in retention.

Live event management. A comprehensive LMS can help you organize

one-time events such as an outside speaker or a repeated event such as a
demonstration of proper use of force. Track event capacity, designate time
commitments and coordinate schedules to ensure everyone can attend and
gets credit for participating in the event.

User groups. Not all employees require the same training. An LMS that
allows trainers to assign courses or training plans by shift, rank, position
or division makes training assignments more efficient.
PRO TIP #4 Ease the burden on your IT department.

You don’t want implementation of your new

LMS to be held up for weeks or months
as your IT department navigates technical
hurdles. That means selecting an LMS that is
cloud-based—commonly called Software as
a Service (SaaS), rather than a system that is
hosted within your IT infrastructure.

A SaaS-based LMS is easy to set up and is

accessible for all approved users from any internet-
enabled device. SaaS technology also takes the
pressure off your IT department because the
vendor is responsible for system upgrades, adding
and improving features, maintaining a library of
accredited courses and securing the system.

Your IT department should be involved in the

purchasing process to consider factors such as single sign-
on (SSO) functionality, which allows the IT department to easily
activate or deactivate a user in their system and simultaneously
adjust access to the LMS. IT staff will also want to be involved in
the process for importing existing training records into the LMS, so
you can be up and running quickly without losing training history.
 Know what you’re spending now—
PRO TIP #5
and how an LMS can help reduce costs.

Training is expensive—likely more expensive than you think.

Your investment in an LMS should be weighed against your current training
costs. Overtime and travel associated with in-person learning, fees for
external presenters, and overtime costs for training administrators are the
obvious ones.

But there are hidden costs you
should consider, too. How much time
does your training team spend developing
courses? Tracking training? Maintaining
credential spreadsheets and reporting
training to your state training agency? Your
time is precious, but too often it doesn’t get
considered in a cost/benefit analysis.
There are also indirect costs.
Departments that fail to invest in officer
professional development can experience
higher turnover, while failure to train on
essentials can create liability costs, penalties
associated with expired credentials, and
even an increase in officer injuries.

Your LMS won’t eliminate your training costs, but by

making training, tracking and reporting more efficient
and consistent, it can cut costs in all these areas.
PRO TIP #6 Consider grant funding.

If budget is an issue even after you take into account the savings you’ll
likely achieve through an LMS, grants can be a solution. Many state and
federal grant programs support law enforcement training programs.

The grant application process can
be intimidating, so it’s important to
realize you don’t have to go it alone. Ask
the LMS vendor you’re considering whether
sponsored assistance (that means free!)
is available to help connect you with
applicable grants.
While vendors are legally prohibited
from helping you apply for grants
for their products, services such as
PoliceGrantsHelp can assist with
researching, writing and applying for a
grant to fund your LMS. A modest one-time
outlay for these services will easily pay for
itself in time saved—especially because
your chance of receiving a grant award will
significantly increase when you work with
experts who know the system.
10 Key Questions to Ask

You want to be sure you’re selecting the right LMS for your department—
so don’t be shy! Following are 10 key questions to ask the vendors you
are considering.

1 What specific steps do you follow to ensure courses are certified

to meet requirements?

2 How often are courses and videos updated?

3 What capabilities do you offer to help us easily track and report

course completion to our state standards and training commission?

4 Can we get trial access to the system (e.g., 30 days)?

5 What features does your LMS offer that the competition doesn’t?

6 How does the LMS pricing work? Are there any fees not included in
the initial proposal?

7 What type of technical support do you provide? What is the

turnaround time if a user loses their password?

8 Explain your customer onboarding process. What training will be

provided to our administrators?

9 What other products/systems can be integrated with your LMS?

10 Do you provide administrative assistance with batch uploading

records, setting up credentials, importing users and creating
training plans?
About PoliceOne Academy

PoliceOne Academy is an online training solution for law enforcement

agencies and officers, designed to improve department and personnel
safety and effectiveness. Brought to you by Lexipol, the nation’s leading
content, policy and training platform for law enforcement, PoliceOne
Academy provides 24/7 access to 400 accredited online courses, as well
as more than 1,100 videos to support microlearning.

PoliceOne Academy also offers a comprehensive set of learning

mangaement features, including the ability to electronically assign
course content, build custom content, and track training completion,
compliance and license renewal. For additional information,
visit www.policeoneacademy.com.

Schedule a demo today to learn how

PoliceOne Academy can help solve your
training challenges!

info@policeoneacademy.com
www.policeoneacademy.com
844-312-9500