# Playing Well With Others



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Multi-agency scenario-based training

*PAT ROBINSON, PH.D.
Training Contributor*
_Officer.com_

When you call for backup, do you sometimes get an officer from another agency? Do you ever respond to calls that also involve the fire department or EMS? Have you ever assisted a probation or parole officer with taking a client into custody? Have you ever turned a prisoner over to a corrections officer at the jail? If you answered "no" to all of these, you can stop reading right now (and explain to your chief why you have been sleeping on duty). If you answered "yes" to one or more, here's another question: do you and your colleagues from other agencies ever train together? 
If you're like most of us, you probably don't. You may attend training courses with officers from other departments, and you may even have regional or county-wide in-service training, but I would bet that you don't really try to mesh policies, response tactics, and scene management protocols even with other law enforcement agencies, much less fire and EMS. And whoever heard of training with probation officers? 
The events of 9-11 made us painfully aware of our inability to communicate with one another--the crazy-quilt of incompatible radio frequencies and different 10-codes led to a push for "interoperability" and mandated training in the National Incident Management System (NIMS). But plain-English radio traffic and a common vocabulary are just the beginnings of working smoothly together. National security concerns about terrorist attacks may be the motivator, but joint training exercises will yield tangible benefits every day on the street. Too often, we find ourselves working at cross purposes with other agencies or--worse--fighting over turf. Training together will help us recognize each other's strengths and better understand our different missions. In fact, cross-training in the emergency services may well be the wave of the future. I know of at least one city in which emergency services have been combined, with employees having multiple certifications as law enforcement officers, firefighters, and paramedics.

Full Article: http://www.officer.com/web/online/Operations-and-Tactics/Playing-Well-With-Others/3$37774


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