71 Gets a Gun OR Why Instructional Designers Have an Important Role in our Communities

Joe is currently one of my best SMEs. He is a former firefighter, currently a Plantation Police Department officer, and certified instructor with Broward College. He has had no formal training as an instructional designer, but he “gets” what skills new recruits need to be a peace officer, keep their agency out of litigations, and go home alive after their shift. He also knows what will and will not “work” at his training academy. He is one of the few SMEs that I am friends with on Facebook (I’ve unfriended several over the past year.) and I enjoy his posts of quintessential Florida vacations. He is also an aspiring foodie but needs to get better at composing the images.

When Joe sends me an article to read, I read it, often several times. This one he sent to my manager as well. The subject line is “Good Read.”

Now, I must be honest that recently I have been a little hesitant to say that I work for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Last Spring was particularly challenging for me to navigate. I was working with a group of SMEs developing a domestic violence course, but there were absolutely no conversations regarding what was going on in the news. Family and friends were constantly asking me questions, looking for answers. I had some, but not all, the answers. I cloaked myself in the reassurance that I worked on courses regarding crimes against persons, getting the “bad guy,” and recently volunteered to lead a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion project that would require recruits to experience community immersion as part of their training for certification (among other requirements).

Joe’s “Good Read” hit a cord with me. It pointed out why Instructional Designers play an important role in our communities and what the ramifications can be if their work is not valued. I read the article, sighed A LOT. Re-read the article and started a mental list of the things that the state of Washington did wrong and compared that to what Florida is doing right. Florida is doing a lot of things right. Sometimes it doesn’t appear that way, but training is one link of many in the progression from private citizen to criminal justice officer.

The article includes a Job Task Analysis from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The ID geek in me salivated over having access. It’s public, 175 pages, so I thought I would share it. (Don’t freak out, most JTAs are not this extensive.) Next week, I’ll be analyzing it against the JTA that we (FDLE) develop and act on every 2-4 years.

In a roundabout way, I believe that Joe is expressing gratitude that he is involved with a passionate group of professionals that want to make a difference in a career that is so important to him and his community.

Thanks for listening.  

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