Photo By Jack Adamyk | Corporal Miguel Magana, with the Marine Corps Police Department, assists in training...... read more read more
The Marine Corps Police Department is implementing role-playing scenarios to enhance training for new officers aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.
“These new officers have graduated the 13 week Basic Police Officer’s Course, and are now undergoing the 14 week Field Training Officer Program,” said MCPD’s Deputy Police Chief William Atkinson.
“The more realistic the scenario, the better the training,” said Christopher Dinisi, police officer with MCPD. “The training makes it as realistic as possible, so that when something occurs in reality, you know how to respond. Basically, you train like you fight and fight like you train.”
For this round of training, Lt. Robert Johnson, Field Training Officer Program Coordinator with MCPD, requested the assistance of Communication Strategy and Operations.
“Since Julie Felix used to work on base as a police officer, she knows the ins and outs of the base, and she has experience in how questions can and should be asked in order to guide a conversation,” Johnson explained.
Felix is now the editor in charge of designing and editing the base publication, The Prospector. She took time out of her busy schedule to play the roles of both, a victim in one scenario, and a witness in the other. “I think it went great,” Felix said. “They asked a lot of good questions and it gave them an idea of areas they can improve on out in the field. In conducting investigations, it’s important to know how to avoid leading questions, and to ask open-ended questions instead. It’s always better to stick with the basics by asking who, what, when, where, why and how types of questions as well. The more they practice in scenarios like these, the better they’ll get.”
The overall scenario was focused on larceny of a private property. In this case, a barbeque grill was reported to have been stolen from Felix’s backyard over the weekend while she and her husband were supposedly out of town.
With Miguel Magana, a field training officer, and Lt. Johnson observing, officers Christopher Dinisi and Ivan Orozco approached Felix separately asking similar questions. Her responses were guided based on the questions asked and they varied as a result. In that manner, they resembled a sort of “choose your own adventure.” The officers later approached Felix again, this time as a neighbor who may have witnessed the incident. Again her responses were a direct result of which questions were asked and how.
“These officers are in what we call ‘the ghost phase’ right now,” Johnson explained. “It’s Phase Four of their field training, which means that Magana takes more of a back-seat role and lets the officers handle their calls for service. Once the calls are completed, Magana takes a moment afterward to do a critique of the incident and how they performed, offering guidance based on his years of experience.”
The trainees appreciated the interactive role-playing as it made the scenario all the more realistic, Dinisi explained.
“I come from an infantry background,” said Orozco. “We didn’t do interviews or investigations, typically. So the role playing helps to get us used to doing active police work, interviewing people… knowing what to say and what not to say. It gives us a chance to get to know who we’re interviewing and especially what types of questions you should be asking.”
Those parties interested in volunteering to be a roleplayer in future training sessions may contact Lt. Robert Johnson at 577-6020 or via email at robert.a.johnson1@usmc.mil.
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 10.25.2018 14:00 |
| Story ID: | 297693 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 65 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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