Training Tracks
Keynote Presentations
Finding Our Way Forward Together
This opening keynote will set the tone for the 2020 DLG Use of Force Summit. 2020 will focus on identifying national issues, providing statistical clarity, and looking for a way forward together through legal protection, better policy, better training, and community involvement.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Use of Force Tracking and Assessment - You Can't Manage What You Don’t Measure
This keynote is to prepare supervisors, investigators, and management for the proper collecting methods for use of force reporting. This training session is designed for executives and command who assign, review, report, or investigate police use of force incidents. When it comes to use of force analysis, agencies should learn what to track and how to track/report use of force at a granular level. Most agencies use broad categories making it difficult to truly determine the amount, deployments, effectiveness and patterns of officer behavior and incidents. By learning to identify patterns and practices is the availability to prevent reasonable foreseeable incidents thus mitigating liability.
Presented By: Lt. Kevin F. Dillon (ret)
Words Matter - Necessity, De-Escalation, Proportional
This Keynote will discuss the importance of words and their interpretation, especially when it comes to interpreting actions in use of force incidents. Words matter, how you use them matters, and how you interpret them matters.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Being Left in the Dirt; How the Media is Collecting and Weaponizing Video Evidence from Use of Force Events to ‘Out-Investigate’ Investigators
This keynote will examine many of the high profile cases that have formed the current rhetoric about police Use of Force. We will explore how effectively the news media secures video evidence, analyzes it, and quickly turns it around for public consumption. Without constraints for accuracy, and accountability, many broadcasters deliver their own powerful spin on the visual evidence, often determining the public mood and consolidating opinion against police. Participants will discover how some media outlets have developed their own forensic video teams with specialized capabilities, ensuring their subscribers are exposed to the visual information even before investigators are aware of its existence. We will also discuss policy recommendations and outline proven tactics for agencies to gain access to the most critical visual record of a police force event before the evidence blindsides senior police executives on the nightly news.
Presented By: Grant Fredricks
Policy, Training and Supervision will Lead to the Success of your Organization
This keynote will review the legal standards applicable to policy, training, and supervison for the success of your department, ensuring that your members have the guidance, training, and knowledge to address the use of force challenges before them in today's world.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Leadership for a Lifetime: How the Past Prepares Us for the Future
This motivational keynote will cover what it takes to be a good professional and highlight the power of being a good person. We will focus on how to take individual talents and apply them to a group setting to make an unstoppable and productive team. It is Butler's belief that the ability to lead is present in everyone, regardless of your rank in an organization or irrespective of your situation in life. There are common characteristics that respected people and effective leaders share - most of these traits are developed by the individual rather than through the position you hold. This presentation will cover some of the most important leadership traits, as well as how each individual can use the lessons of yesterday to overcome the challenges of today and capitalize on the opportunities of tomorrow.
Presented By: Paul Butler
Legal Track
De-Escalation and Mental Health Response
This seminar will review the Court’s interpretation of De-Escalation and the clearly established law related to mental health response. The Courts often analyze the concepts regarding the need for using force and whether the use of force was related to the need to use force. Courts have a tendency to discuss De-Escalation in situations when officers are dealing with individuals known to have or that appear to be suffering from mental illness, or when individuals are suspected or are under the effects of excited delirium. This course will review the tactic of De-Escalation and its intent to place officers in a position of advantage when dealing with irrational, unpredictable, or suicidal persons.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Current Trends - Use of Force
This seminar will examine and identify common legal standards applicable to the Use of Force; specifically, the interpretation of words that are used every day in evaluating an officer’s use of force. Buzzwords include Necessity, De-escalation, Proportionality, and Incapacitation. This seminar will assess and interpret the legal standard that officers should use regarding the amount of force necessary and reasonable to accomplish lawful objectives and to control a situation, effect an arrest, overcome resistance to arrest, or to defend themselves or others from harm.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Civil Liability
This seminar will focus on legal analysis, guidance and the interpretation of current laws addressing agency liability and current police practices in effective and constitutional operations. The training will review the legal standards applicable to Federal Civil Rights Law 42 U.S.C. §1983 by examining the legal standards applicable to Agency Liability pursuant to the holding of the United States Supreme Court in Monell v. Department of Social Services. This training will review the manner in which Agency liability is established and the importance of understanding the Deliberate Indifferent Standard, along with the Courts interpretation of the same.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Crowd Control
This seminar examines the who, what, when, where, and why of interviews for force investigations. From the unique aspects and challenges of interviewing a law enforcement officer, to when an interview should be conducted after a critical incident, this seminar cuts through the controversy with a science-based approach for maximizing memory retrieval and communication.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Use of Force Against Animals: "Puppycide"
This seminar will review cases dealing with using force against man's best friend. Topics discussed will include policy and operational concerns, along with proper training to prevent such issues.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Legal Issues and Trends Related to the Admissibility of Video
This seminar will focus on the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to legal issues and video admissibility in Court. We will review how the judicial system is using and relying on video to assist in determining the truth. What are the challenges, the pitfalls, and guidance on how to protect your credibility?
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Training Officer Liability
This seminar will focus of the liability and operational issues facing training officers. From Training Assessments to Training plans and the legal implications from the Supreme Court rulings.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Tag- You're It! The Duty to Intervene & Bystander Liability
This seminar will discuss how the duty to intervene and bystander liability have suddenly become household terms across the country, with many civilians touting such concepts as innovative and revolutionary to the law enforcement profession. These terms are not new, however, and those actually in the profession know as much. This session will cover the concepts of the duty to intervene, applicable legal and policy standards, and modern approaches to these concepts.
Presented By: Attorney Eric R. Atstupenas
Officer Injuries: Avoiding the Legal Pitfalls
This seminar will discuss the variety of potential injuries that law enforcement officers face during training or while performing their duties on the job. Agencies should be aware of some of the legal implications involved when officers are injured and how to navigate the potential minefields posed by those injuries.
Presented By: Attorney Eric R. Atstupenas
Investigating 'Human Error'
This seminar will focus on the fact that law enforcement use of deadly force has become one of the most visible and controversial aspects of the U.S. criminal justice system. Yet, most police involved deaths never rise to the level of public consciousness. The controversy and public discourse tend to center on handful of cases in which the outcome does not seem match the actual threat the officer faced in hindsight. These cases often involve elements of human error and are typically investigated against a backdrop of intense political, public, and organizational scrutiny. This seminar explores strategies for investigating and/or reviewing these difficult cases.
Presented By: Paul Taylor
Training Track
Qualified Immunity
This seminar will focus on understanding the Doctrine of Qualified Immunity and what everyone should know. Qualified immunity is a type of legal immunity: “Qualified immunity balances two important interests—the need to hold public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably.” Those that claim that Qualified Immunity shields police officers from civil liability need to be informed on the balance of clearly established law and discretionary acts. Join us to see that it is important to “not throw the baby out with the bathwater” when it comes to police reform and qualified immunity.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
The Secrets of Hidden Evidence in Use of Force Investigations
This seminar will provide investigators with guidance on how to effectively analyze video to identify hidden evidence in use of force investigations.
Presented By: Grant Fredericks
Tactical Communication
This seminar will review the concept of De-Escalation is here to stay! Though the concept has been around forever, we know the words we use can and should be used tactically to reduce the likelihood of using force.
Presented By: Sean Case
Training the Tik Tok Generation
This seminar will review challenges departments face to recruit, train, and retain our current generation of officers, including increased dependence on technology, an uncertain policing environment, and a generation of applicants with different values than our veteran officers.
Presented By: Sean Case
2019-2020 Supreme Court Update
This seminar will review the SCOTUS decisions for 2019-2020 including the Use of Force cases.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
The Effects of Priming on Split-Second Decision-Making
This seminar examines the impact of pre-event information on officer decision-making and use of force outcomes. Using the results of several large experimental studies and a number of real world case studies, you’ll learn about how priming and confirmation bias affect decision-making during critical incidents and strategies for accounting for them during the investigative process.
Presented By: Paul Taylor
Legally Justified, But Was It Avoidable?
This seminar will analyze recent use of force incidents by dissecting the behavior of the offender and more importantly, the potential thoughts and behavioral processes of the officer(s) involved. This seminar will place special consideration on poor or ill-advised tactics, ineffective communication, a lack of personal control, and/or a misunderstanding of acute stress that led the officer(s) to escalate the event unintentionally and unconsciously. With a goal of avoiding the avoidable, this seminar will work backwards from the moment force was used and honestly assess whether the officer, by action or lack of action, contributed to its ultimate need.
Presented By: Liam Duggan
The Art and Science of Decision Making
This seminar will focus on the demand for officers to make “the right” decision at all times. Human interactions under stress will never yield a perfect right or wrong outcome. Trainers, leaders, attorneys, and all involved in the process of preparing and evaluating police events need to understand what actually takes place and contributes to decisions under stress. This seminar will break apart the science we know today on decision making and how working the “art” of assisting that process may eventually lead to more ideal outcomes.
Presented By: Liam Duggan
Increase Your Response Options: Having a Full Toolbox When Dealing with Suicidal Subjects
This seminar will examine the increased scrutiny on law enforcement when dealing with suicidal subjects. Agencies are trying to answer whether they should go on these calls, can they use force, and is there a time when they should walk away. This seminar will cover some potential options, like co-responder programs, reviewing foundational law enforcement concepts, the use of less lethal options, and understanding the laws associated with these types of calls. Participants will leave with the knowledge about our “duty to protect”, the Community Care Doctrine, and Emergency Aid Doctrine. We will discuss de-escalation and how to properly apply the concept when negotiating these difficult incidents. We will discuss the use of a tactical team and when and if they should be used on a non-criminal event. Regardless of experience, participants should walk away with additional tools to help make them successful when dealing with suicidal subjects.
Presented By: David Pearson
In-Custody Deaths and Appropriate Breathing
This seminar will discuss how inappropriate breathing is often temporal to a sudden, in-custody death. Officers need to know how to identify inappropriate breathing in individuals under their care, custody, and control. Interventions will also be discussed.
Presented By: John Peters, Jr.
Command Track
Use of Force Continuum
This seminar will focus on the history and reasoning behind the decision to remove the UOF continuum from the police use of force policies a decade ago and why it is unacceptable to revive it in present day policing. Law enforcement has worked for almost two decades to remove the stair-stepping methodology of the use of force continuum, due to its continued failure to represent the methodology of current case law accurately. Use of Force continuum images present an overly simplistic approach to the thought process that officers need to have in order to make effective decisions in real time. These images challenge and detract from the effective decision making by officers when they are confronted with resistance.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
To View or Not To View: That is the Question
This seminar will review the legal, physiological, and operational decisions associated with watching a video before providing an investigative report.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Tactical Operations Liability: Current Trends, Legal and Policy Considerations
This seminar will review the standards and case law applicable to the use of a tactical team and tactical related issues. The purpose is to identify the current legal challenges and successes directly related to tactical operations and tactical related equipment. These cases are reviewed for operators and commanders to understand the basis of force decisions and how to meet the constitutional requirements of the Fourth Amendment.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Use of Force Investigation
This seminar will review the operational standards to identify an effective force reporting and investigation process. Developing an effective report form and collection of necessary data to identify risk. Identify a process to evaluate policy and training interpretation.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Use of Force Review Boards
This seminar will identify recommended practices to ensure a effective forec review board. From policy to guide its process and the use of subject matter experts to analyze the daily force operations.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Officer Involved Shooting Response
This seminar will examine the investigative best practices for providing a standardized and systematic approach to deadly force and in-custody death investigations.
Presented By: Attorney Eric P. Daigle
Interviews for Force Investigations
This seminar examines the who, what, when, where, and why of interviews for force investigations. From the unique aspects and challenges of interviewing a law enforcement officer, to when an interview should be conducted after a critical incident, this seminar cuts through the controversy with a science-based approach for maximizing memory retrieval and communication.
Presented By: Paul Taylor
How Video is Being Weaponized Against the Police
This seminar will review cases where video is misinterpreted based on a lack of knowledge and proper ability to evaluate the video evidence.
Presented By: Grant Fredericks
Risk Assessment Matrix - Unfolding the Mystery
This seminar will examine the purpose and functions of the risk assessment matrix. The panelists will discuss the background, history, and foundational purpose of the matrix.
Presented By: Jeff Sellig, NTOA
Patrol Use of Force Review for Field Supervisors
This seminar will guide use of force review for field supervisors as well as common force scenarios facing our officers daily. Supervisors will be given a systematic approach to review non-deadly force used by patrol officers.
Presented By: Sean Case
Use of Force Review Boards for Patrol
This seminar will cover a panel review process to ensure officers are using reasonable force, influence future training, address equipment needs, and make policy decisions. Force review boards connect policy, training, and force used in the field with the review process so departments can make necessary changes to force decisions made in the field.
Presented By: Sean Case
Responding to Animosity After Police Use of Force
This seminar will review what departments should be doing far in advance of a high profile use of force incident and remind ourselves of the mission in policing. Unfortunately, there is less to gain from attempting to explain this process and much more to gain from understanding why our force is being critically reviewed.
Presented By: Sean Case
CALEA Use of Force Standards Update
This seminar will review the new and updated CALEA standards issued in August 2020 related to Use of Force.
Presented By: Joseph Race
Protests, Police and the Press: Balancing Operational Challenges of Law Enforcement with First Amendment Rights During a Pandemic
The seminar will present an informative program about the rights and limitations of journalists and citizens to photograph and record police officers and first responders performing their official duties in public. The discussion will include First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, search and seizure, exigent circumstances, qualified immunity, media-crowd management, and prohibitions against the destruction or deletion of files and recordings within the framework of departmental policies. A discussion of case law supporting these rights tempered by valid time, place, and manner restrictions will include the most recent cases and rulings as well as compliance with U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) Statements of Interest.
Presented By: Mickey H. Osterreicher
Noise-Flash Diversionary Devices 2020 Legal Update and Best Practices
This seminar will discuss updates regarding noise-flash diversionary devices and the best practices around using them.
Presented By: Chief Michael Whalen Esq. (Ret.)
Toxicity in Leadership
The seminar will discuss the obstacle to cultural progress due to toxic leaders and the effects of this leadership style. Case studies from the military of soldiers who served under toxic leaders will be examined. Behaviors and qualities that make a leader toxic will be discussed as well as what stimulates a leader’s toxicity. Solutions and antidotes of toxic leaders will be evaluated for the long-term health of the organization.
Chief Terri Wilfong (Ret.)
Corrections Track
Correctional Use of Force: Applying the Kingsley Eight
This seminar will apply the eight Kingsley factors when building a UOF report form and when supervising and reviewing staff's UOF.
Presented By: Brian Zawilinski
Pre-Planned Use of Force: Cell Extractions and Responding to Mass Incidents
This seminar will help your department create and maintain high standards and practices regarding pre-planned UOF incidents. Given that this is not spontaneous UOF, but rather pre-planned, there is very little margin for error.
Presented By: Brian Zawilinski
UOF Tools, Timing, and Tactics: OC, Cuffing, Batons, Tasers and K9
This seminar will focus on the review and necessary updates to your department's equipment, training standards, and criteria on how often these items are used.