Officer Training

Best-in-class training and professional development

In 2018, the Indiana University Police Department collaborated with IU faculty to create a commission to review IUPD’s approach to resistance and officers’ use of force. Following the commission, IUPD launched major training initiatives that have changed the culture of public safety within our agency, but also served as models that have influenced other agencies within Indiana and nationally.

IUPD officer training programs are a key element of our community policing initiatives.

Both new and current IUPD officers and cadets undergo extensive training that prioritize the needs of the communities we serve. These include the following nationally cutting-edge programs:

  • Fair and Impartial Policing
  • Mental Health First Aid
  • PERF ICAT (Police Executive Research Forum’s Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics)
  • Procedural Justice
A young IUPD officer plays lawn frisbee in front of an audience of students and fellow officers, on the IU East campus.

IUPD officer training programs

Fair and Impartial Policing

Fair and Impartial Policing is a research-based program focused on training officers to recognize their own implicit biases and how to manage them, both on and off duty.

Mental Health First Aid

Since police officers are often the first to arrive on the scene of an emergency, it is critical that they receive training on mental health issues. All IUPD officers are trained in mental health first aid, which is a critical component of de-escalating a tense situation when encountering an individual having a mental health crisis. Mental health first aid training is also offered to anyone in the IU community, just as CPR is.

PERF ICAT

Developed by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) is a nationally recognized program that trains IUPD officers to safely de-escalate a wide variety of situations without the use of firearms.

Procedural Justice

Like Fair and Impartial Policing, Procedural Justice training focuses on understanding implicit bias, but has a social justice and historical component that helps officers understand why people with different types of backgrounds and perspectives feel the way they do about the police. Procedural Justice training is currently being rolled out across all IUPD divisions, and is an important piece in our commitment to building strong relationships with all members of the IU community.