Brooks Connect

I'll keep this short and sweet. Here is a pro tip that a law enforcement officer no longer knows what they are doing, has 'run out of knowledge', 'has reached the end of their training tape'.  If you are reviewing body cam footage, watching a video or reading a police report or a Use of Force report and you hear/ read these phrases; -"You want to go to jail?"  -"If I come back here, someone is going to jail." These phrases are a 'tell', just like in poker. It's a bluff AND this is the space in time that officers will slip into constitutional violations and/ or take things personally instead of keeping it professional. I know it sounds funny but you can take this one to the bank.

I know it’s common practice to check an officers training records to ensure that they are trained and authorized to (fill in the blank here).  But are you checking the training records of the ‘trainers’ that are giving the authorization? If not, you should be.

PHIL WEISER Attorney General NATALIE HANLON LEH Chief Deputy Attorney General SHANNON STEVENSON Solicitor General TANJA WHEELER Associate Chief Deputy Attorney General Mr. Matthew Brooks Thornton Police Department (Retired) 9551 Civic Center Dr Thornton, CO 80229 Dear Mr. Brooks, On behalf of the Colorado Peace Officer Standard and Training (POST) Board, I thank you for applying to serve on the POST Academy Redesign Project as a member of our Curriculum Development Team (CDT). Your application was reviewed by members of the POST staff, and I am writing to formally appoint you to the CDT. The POST staff and I were all impressed with your expertise and dedication to improving law enforcement education and believe your work on the CDT will be critical to ensuring we together develop an updated Law Enforcement Training Academy (LETA) curriculum that will ensure cadets have the knowledge, mindsets, motivations, and skills they need to succeed as entry-level Colorado peace officers. The work of the CDT will be invaluable to the POST Board and peace officers throughout our state. The POST team will be reaching out soon with details about the first meeting, expectations, and process. Thank you for your application and commitment to be a devoted member of the team and for your dedication to law enforcement training. Please contact our POST Academy Curriculum Developer Gwen Burke at gwen.burke@coag.gov for questions and assistance. Sincerely, Philip J. Weiser Colorado Attorney General