Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) Partners With The Response Network to Offer High Quality, Low Cost Online In-Service Training

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA®) has entered into a strategic partnership with The Response Network (TRN) to provide its member agencies with high quality online in-service training courses at substantially discounted prices.

The initial courses, which include Use of Force, Applied Ethics, and, soon, Policing the Mentally Ill, will be available at TRN’s online, in-service training portal, www.policecommunity.net. This 100% online training portal is exclusively dedicated to meeting the training needs of the global law enforcement, public safety and security communities.

CALEA and TRN will formally unveil the partnership, and demonstrate the initial courses, at the upcoming 2011 Summer CALEA Conference taking place at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherlands Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 27-30, 2011. TRN will be demonstrating its online in-service courses at Booth #14 in the vendor area.

TRN President & CEO Bradley J. Naples stated that he was excited about the new partnership with CALEA and he looks forward to working with CALEA agencies. “This strategic agreement leverages the technical training expertise of TRN in a manner that benefits CALEA clients,” he said. It also establishes another advantage of being CALEA Accredited, according to CALEA Chairman Louis M. Dekmar.

According to CALEA Executive Director Sylvester Daughtry, “We believe that this initiative demonstrates CALEA’s constant commitment to provide better client services in a manner that complements the needs of contemporary public safety agencies. When developing this client-focused partnership, CALEA sought to establish a business relationship with an organization that had a strong connection to the broader public safety community and a demonstrated ability to deliver superior quality online in-service training. To this end, TRN’s existing endorsements by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP), and the FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA) complemented CALEA’s vision for the relationship and positioned the partnership for success.”

Over the last year large and small law enforcement agencies have endorsed the Police Community.net training concept. These agencies include the:

Detroit (MI) Police Department
Covington (VA) Police Department
Galax (VA) Police Department
Virginia Beach (VA) Police Department
Newport News (VA) Police Department
Liberty Township (OH) Police Department
Jacksonville (FL) Sheriff’s Office (JSO-Duval County)
St. Augustine (FL) Police Department
St. John’s County (FL) Sheriff’s Department
Clayton (OH) Police Department
Park Ridge (IL) Police Department
Aberdeen (SD) Police Department
Cape Coral (FL) Police Department
Ocean City (DE) Police Department
Story County (IA) Sheriff’s Department
Lincoln (NH) Police Department

TRN’s training programs are also endorsed by Brit Insurance, The FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP), and the Association of Public Safety-Communications Professionals (APCO).

www.PoliceCommunity.net is a registered trademark that is owned and operated by The Response Network Inc. The Response Network's mission is to develop and deliver to law enforcement and public safety professionals a complete curriculum of educational courseware that meets their training needs ranging from in-service training to degree granting programs. For more information, contact pcn@policecommunity.net or call 1-877-288-0451.

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., (CALEA®) was created in 1979 as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of law enforcement's major executive associations. The purpose of CALEA’s Accreditation Programs is to improve the delivery of public safety services, primarily by: maintaining a body of standards, developed by public safety practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date public safety initiatives; establishing and administering an accreditation process; and recognizing professional excellence.

The Response Network and Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP) Announce First Ever Mandatory Online In-Service Course "Commonwealth of Virginia Law Enforcement Legal Updates"

The Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP), together with The Response Network, today announced the immediate availability of a new online in-service training course called “The Commonwealth of Virginia Law Enforcement Legal Updates and Changes in the Law.” Regular legal training is mandated for all Virginia sworn law enforcement officers. The course is available at www.policecommunity.net, the 100% online in-service law enforcement training portal owned and operated by The Response Network.

The new course makes its debut as the Galax and Covington, Virginia Police Departments join the growing list of Virginia law enforcement agencies turning to The Response Network to meet their online in-service training requirements.

“The Commonwealth of Virginia Law Enforcement Legal Updates and Changes in the Law” is a mandated and highly important Legal Updates course that was architected and managed by Mr. Randy Means, who is Director of Curriculum Development and Quality Assurance for The Response Network, as well as a highly regarded career law enforcement training professional and nationally recognized constitutional law legal scholar. In addition to Mr. Means, The Response Network retained other Virginia-based law enforcement officers whose sub-specialties are legal updates, as well as other current and former Virginia prosecutors highly familiar with the Virginia Legal Updates process.

“The design, quality and value pricing of this course is the first of its kind in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Dana Schrad, Executive Director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. “Now officers can have a training tool to call upon 24/7 over an entire year to insure their knowledge on the critical changes in the law are learned and retained.”

“The development of this critically important online legal updates course is a testament to the power of the partnership that exists between the VACP and The Response Network,” explained Bradley J. Naples, President of The Response Network. “We will continue to work closely with the leadership of the VACP to provide an ongoing series of cutting edge, cost-effective online in-service training courses that engage and educate Virginia law enforcement officers.”

In addition to its partnership with the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP), The Response Network’s training programs are also endorsed by Brit Insurance, The FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and the Association of Public Safety-Communications Officials (APCO).

A growing number of agencies nationwide have adopted The Response Network’s online training program, including metropolitan Detroit Police Department, the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff's Office, the Saint Augustine, Florida Police Department, the Saint John's Sheriff's Department, the Clayton, Ohio Police Department, the Park Ridge, Illinois Police Department, the Aberdeen, South Dakota Police Department, the Ocean City, Delaware Police Department, the Story County Sheriff's Department in Ames, Iowa, and the Lincoln, New Hampshire Police Department, among others.

The VACP, formed in 1926, is an incorporated non-profit professional association. Its membership of more than 600 is made up of active and retired federal, state, local, campus and private law enforcement and criminal justice agency executives, administrators and managers. Membership also includes persons in law enforcement related businesses, support industries or government agencies. The purpose of the VACP is "to promote the professional development of all executive and management personnel within duly constituted law enforcement agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia; to encourage close cooperation of all law enforcement agencies in the prevention of crime, detection of crime and the apprehension of those responsible for the commission of crimes; to promote the highest standards of the police profession through selection and training of law enforcement officers and generally pledge and strive for the highest degree of respect for law and order throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia."

PoliceCommunity.net is owned and operated by The Response Network Inc. The Response Network's mission is to develop and deliver to law enforcement and public safety professionals a complete curriculum of educational courseware that meets their needs for everything from in-service training to degree granting programs. For more information, visit www.policecommunity.net or call 1-877-288-0451.

In The Age of The "RoboCop", Training Is Still Stuck In The Past, Says The Response Network

As every aspect of contemporary law enforcement moves fast-forward into the Age of the RoboCop, training remains mired in the past — a fact that, if not corrected to meet today’s budget and liability realities, will soon threaten the readiness of America’s law enforcement professionals, according to Bradley J. Naples, President & CEO of The Response Network, creator of the law enforcement community’s only 100% online in-service training portal, PoliceCommunity.net.

"From command centers to the inside of the patrol car, every aspect of contemporary law enforcement is being transformed by the latest advances in 21st Century technology," Naples said today. "And yet, for some reason, we remain firmly anchored in the early 20th Century when it comes to providing our law enforcement professionals with in-service training that is cost-effective, consistent from officer to officer, and based on the very best subject matter experts. This is starting to change, thanks in part to the enormous pressures budget cuts are placing on agencies, posts and departments, all of whom must find viable new ways to deliver more and more training, more and more cost effectively.”

The answer to the community’s needs lies with the Internet, according to Naples. “The vast majority of today’s officers have been raised on the Internet and are very Internet centric in virtually every other part of their lives,” he asserted. “As an educational delivery vehicle, the Internet is a proven, robust, secure and reliable platform. It is the perfect way to deliver training courses, creatively and cost-effectively.”

According to Naples, a large number of law enforcement professionals are already utilizing the Internet to achieve their general education goals, as is witnessed by the explosive growth in for-profit online universities. “The same goals and objectives can be achieved for in-service training and that’s what PoliceCommunity.net is designed to deliver — superior quality in-service training courses that are as engaging as they are educational.”

It is becoming clear, Naples explained, that online education and training is actually a more effective method than in-person face-to-face training, where individual performance isn’t as easy to measure. For law enforcement, where a day of face-to-face training seminars means a day an officer is off the streets, online on-demand training makes even more sense, giving departments the flexibility to deploy the officers if needed rather than be shorthanded while also paying for travel costs to attend an in-person training session.

Naples believes it is only a matter of time before every commanding officer in the nation sees the value of online in-service training. “The climate in law enforcement today consists of smaller budgets, more technology, and more young officers who grew up on the Internet and mobile technology. Some senior law enforcement professionals remain skeptical of the value of online in-service training simply because it is new and they are used to paying for seminars and travel costs, and they think good training has to be expensive. But the new reality clearly demonstrates that, through the Internet, training doesn’t have to be expensive anymore.

“To break the acceptance barrier, online training must incorporate appropriate elements from Hollywood and the gaming industry,” Naples asserted. “It must engage, connect with, motivate and make officers passionate about their field. With our customizable and specialized courses, we provide law enforcement officers an exciting, accurate training experience. And best of all, because our program is available anywhere, anytime, it can actually make officers want to learn.”

PoliceCommunity.net currently offers nine general subject domain courses representing more than 50 hours of in-service training, with three more courses scheduled to come online before the end of this calendar year, and an additional ten courses now in-progress.

All of the general courses can be customized to meet the needs of each subscriber, from major city agencies to rural law enforcement POSTS, and integrated with all local policies and directives. No other online training solution provides for this complete integration of national subjects with local directives in a solution that can be administered and tracked by the subscribing agency. The portal is available to law enforcement officers for an annual subscription of $74.95.

Over the last year large and small law enforcement agencies have endorsed the PoliceCommunity.net training concept including the Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan Police Department, the Virginia Beach, Virginia Police Department, the Newport News, Virginia Police Department, the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff's Office, the Saint Augustine, Florida Police Department, the Saint John's Sheriff's Department, the Clayton, Ohio Police Department, the Park Ridge, Illinois Police Department, the Aberdeen, South Dakota Police Department, Ocean City, Delaware Police Department, the Story County Sheriff's Department in Ames, Iowa, and the Lincoln, New Hampshire Police Department, among others.

The Response Network’s training programs are endorsed by the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP), Brit Insurance, The FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Association of Public Safety-Communications Professionals (APCO).

Policecommunity.net Law Enforcement Training Portal Reaches 10,000 Subscriber Membership Milestone

Underscoring the impact that engaging and educational online in-service training can have on the global law enforcement community, The Response Network, owner and operator of the world’s first and only 100% law enforcement online training portal, today announced that PoliceCommunity.net has surpassed the 10,000 subscriber membership milestone. What’s more, according to The Response Network President & CEO Bradley J. Naples, the online training portal has achieved this historic milestone less than one year after completing its initial beta testing period.

“As a new generation of Internet-centric law enforcement professionals comes to the forefront of helping to ensure that best practice standards are met for ongoing in-service training, The Response Network’s PoliceCommunity.net training portal is coming to be seen as an effective way for agencies and posts to cost-effectively maintain a state of preparedness. More importantly,” Naples emphasized, “they are realizing that online in-service training can be a compelling experience that is as much entertaining and engaging as it is educational. Our courses deliver that unique combination of engagement and education. It clearly sets us apart in a compelling and cost effective way. In fact, we believe we will double the number of our subscribers further in the next 6-12 months.”

Creating courses that borrow from Hollywood and the gaming industries is a critical determinant of online training’s chances for success. “Everyone knows that, in today’s budget strapped world, traditional face-to-face training is largely inefficient and very expensive. It’s becomes even more difficult to justify when one factors in the value of lost productivity and the inability to measure effectiveness.”

Policecommunity.net currently offers nine general subject domain courses representing more than 50 hours of in-service training, with three more courses scheduled to come online before the end of this calendar year, and an additional ten courses now in-progress. The current nine courses are:

1. Emotional Intelligence for Law Enforcement
2. Community Policing/Customer Service
3. Use of Force
4. Domestic Violence
5. Active Shooter for Public Safety
6. Becoming An Exemplary Peace Officer/Applied Ethics
7. Bloodborne Pathogens
8. Avoiding Ethnic and Sexual Harassment
9. Mental Health for Law Enforcement

All of these general courses can be customized to meet the needs of each subscriber, from major city agencies to rural law enforcement POSTS, and integrated with all local policies and directives. No other online training solution provides for this complete integration of national subjects with local directives in a solution that can be administered and tracked by the subscribing agency. The portal is available to law enforcement officers for an annual subscription of $74.95.

Over the last year large and small law enforcement agencies have endorsed the Police Community.net training concept, including the Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan Police Department, the Virginia Beach, Virginia Police Department, the Newport News, Virginia Police Department, the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff's Office, the Saint Augustine, Florida Police Department, the Saint John's Sheriff's Department, the Clayton, Ohio Police Department, the Park Ridge, Illinois Police Department, the Aberdeen, South Dakota Police Department, Ocean City, Delaware Police Department, the Story County Sheriff's Department in Ames, Iowa, and the Lincoln, New Hampshire Police Department, among others.

The Response Network’s training programs are endorsed by the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP), Brit Insurance, The FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and the Association of Public Safety-Communications Professionals (APCO).

PoliceCommunity.net is owned and operated by The Response Network Inc. The Response Network's mission is to develop and deliver to law enforcement and public safety professionals a complete curriculum of educational courseware that meets their needs for everything from in-service training to degree granting programs. For more information, visit www.policecommunity.net or call 1-877-288-0451.

Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police Partners With The Response Network for Online Training

The Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP) has entered into a strategic partnership with The Response Network (TRN) to provide Virginia law enforcement agencies with specific online in-service training courses offered exclusively by TRN at its PoliceCommunity.net online training portal. PoliceCommunity.net provides an integrated, simple-to-use approach to online in-service training that is considered by many law enforcement agencies to be “The Standard” for training law enforcement, public safety and security professionals.

Simultaneous with the announcement of this strategic partnership, The Response Network today introduced its first new online in-service course developed exclusively for the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and all other Virginia law enforcement professionals — “The Virginia Commonwealth Law Enforcement Legal Updates and Changes in the Law.” Regular legal training is mandated for all Virginia sworn law enforcement officers. The course is available at www.policecommunity.net.

Under the terms of the partnership agreement announced today by Bradley J. Naples, President & CEO of The Response Network, TRN will immediately begin developing customized courses for the VACP as Virginia law enforcement officers begin taking TRN’s current series of courses. There are a number of Virginia law enforcement agencies that are already TRN subscribers. The Virginia Beach Police Department, Newport News Police Department, and the Hampton Police Division already have moved to adopt and use TRN’s online training for in-service training.

In addition to its partnership with the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police (VACP), The Response Network’s training programs are also endorsed by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), Brit Insurance, The FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Association of Public Safety-Communications Professionals (APCO).

“This strategic agreement leverages the technical training expertise of The Response Network for the benefit of the VACP and Virginia law enforcement agencies,” said Naples. “We look forward to working with the leadership of the VACP to provide an ongoing series of cutting edge, cost-effective online in-service training courses that engage and educate Virginia law enforcement officers.”

According to Dana Schrad, Executive Director of the VACP, “The VACP has been studying ways to provide law enforcement agencies with a comprehensive, creative and cost-effective way to maintain their required state of preparedness. We believe that The Response Network’s online training portal is the only solution that can meet the standard we have set for quality, creativity and cost-effectiveness. The Response Network’s online in-service training courses are nothing less than compelling. They engage as they educate and that is no small achievement. We look forward to developing a series of courses that will benefit the Virginia law enforcement profession.”

A growing number of agencies nationwide have adopted The Response Network’s online training program, including metropolitan Detroit Police Department, the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff's Office, the Saint Augustine, Florida Police Department, the Saint John's Sheriff's Department, the Clayton, Ohio Police Department, the Park Ridge, Illinois Police Department, the Aberdeen, South Dakota Police Department, Ocean City, Delaware Police Department, the Story County Sheriff's Department in Ames, Iowa, and the Lincoln, New Hampshire Police Department, among others.

The VACP, formed in 1926, is an incorporated non-profit professional association. Its membership of more than 600 is made up of active and retired federal, state, local, campus and private law enforcement and criminal justice agency executives, administrators and managers. Membership also includes persons in law enforcement related businesses, support industries or government agencies. The purpose of the VACP is "to promote the professional development of all executive and management personnel within duly constituted law enforcement agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia; to encourage close cooperation of all law enforcement agencies in the prevention of crime, detection of crime and the apprehension of those responsible for the commission of crimes; to promote the highest standards of the police profession through selection and training of law enforcement officers and generally pledge and strive for the highest degree of respect for law and order throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia."

ELAN Home Systems Wins CE Pro's First-Ever Quest For Quality Gold Award For Training Programs

Proving that innovation and dedication to educating dealers and installers is the backbone of its customer support service, ELAN Home Systems today received CE Pro’s first-ever Quest For Quality Gold Award for Training Programs. Voted on by the readers of CE Pro, this award recognizes ELAN’s suite of training services as among the best in the industry.

To instruct dealers and installers most effectively, ELAN Home Systems has developed programs that meet each customer’s unique training requirements. In addition to regional in-person training classes, ELAN has been offering the best in remote training since 2003, when it debuted ELAN U, the first-ever online installation-training program. To date, installers have taken more than 300,000 classes at ELAN U.

Most recently introduced within ELAN U is the ELAN g! School training program for its new g! Series Home Control System. The ELAN g! School introduced a breakthrough, industry-first online software simulator where users can practice setting up the g! software before ever touching a physical unit. Available wherever you are, whenever you need it, ELAN U is the easiest, fastest training method available today.

“Providing our dealers and installers with the industry’s best training services benefits everyone,” remarked ELAN President Paul Starkey. “Online access to a full range of training classes lets dealers and installers learn cost-effectively on their own schedule and cuts travel costs, and it allows us to get live feedback on what dealers want to see included in the training, making the program better every day.”

The company constantly updates ELAN U and adds classes that are then immediately available to all subscribing members. What’s more, the installers and dealers that attend face-to-face training automatically get a full year of free access to ELAN U, a $125 value. ELAN U currently offers nearly 300 ELAN and Sunfire courses, and by the end of 2011 the ELAN g! School will expand to feature up to 150 unique courses. ELAN U has been the recipient of the CEA Mark of Excellence Award for Best Training and Support Programs and the Inside Track Certificate of Excellence for Best Dealer Training.

ELAN’s flagship product is the g! Series Home Control System, which provides users with the most uniform and intuitive icon-based control from their favorite devices, including TVs, touch screens, touch pads, PCs, iPhones, and iPads. The standardized interface works across platforms, so that the trendy g!Mobile app users love on the iPhone appears and works similarly on ELAN touch screens, valets and handheld remotes as well as users' televisions and mobile devices. And the system's IP backbone makes it just as easy to control the system from across the room as across the globe.

Individual apps for each subsystem allow the user to control security, climate, lighting, media, irrigation, pool/spa, messaging, video and photos with the flick of a finger. Access is fast and secure through any ELAN home interface or globally with mobile Internet enabled devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Netbooks, and PC Tablets. Since the intuitive interface empowers users with personalized scheduling and detailed history views, high consumption subsystems like lighting and climate can be closely monitored and managed for a greener lifestyle - and substantial energy savings.