Blue Sheepdog

Officers at many departments often do not get training in areas outside of the core liability areas such as use of force, firearms, and pursuit driving. Most departments simply don’t have the money to cover the cost of the additional training. Besides, many police officers and deputy sheriffs have a hard time fitting extra training into a schedule packed with work and personal demands.

Enter The Backup Training Corporation. Founded in 1997, The Backup Training Corporation offers more than 30 courses on CD-ROM for law enforcement officers. The courses cover a broad range of topics including the use of force, officer survival, and responding to active shooters. However, many of the courses cover subjects that are rarely covered in traditional training such as commercial vehicle enforcement, developing informants, outlaw bikers, elder abuse, identifying stolen cars that have been disguised (VIN switches, etc.), and vice enforcement for patrol officers.

Since the courses are all offered on CD, officers can work on them in their spare time, even if that is during “down time” on a midnight shift. The courses are easy to navigate and the content is well written and intersting.

The best part of this training is that all of the content is FREE to individual officers. The only cost to the officer is a $3 shipping and handling charge for each CD. This fee covers the cost of reproducing the CD and mailing it out to you. A fair bargain by any measure. The costs of developing the course content is paid for through government grants for adult education.

If free, high-quality training was enough in itself, how about this: you can earn college credit for the courses also. The Backup Training Corporation has partnered with North Idaho College (NIC) to offer up to 17 hours of 200-level college credit. Unlike some of the dubious, non-accredited online colleges, NIC is fully-accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. This means that you can transfer the credits to any other college or university. As with any similar program, NIC does require processing fees before they will issue you college credit. These fees are very reasonable at only $10 for each credit hour. So, for a mere $170, you can complete an equivelent of an entire semester of college–and that’s a bargain anywhere!

When you first sign up for any of the courses, you will need to submit an application along with your credentials proving you are a sworn law enforcement officer. Once you get started, you may order up to six CDs at a time.

Bargains like this are rare treasures. Make sure you take advantage of this high-quality training.