For quite some time there has been an ample amount of energy directed toward upgrading the training of police officers throughout the State of Illinois. The training, provided from a multiple amount of qualified training agencies, has upgraded the professional capabilities of the police officer throughout Illinois, from tiny hamlets to booming cities, to the point where the delivery of effective and professional police services are the rule, rather than the exception.

This has been true for most ranks within the police organizations, from patrol officer to detective to sergeant. However, perhaps one of the most difficult tasks is that of identifying what continued training is necessary for the Chief of Police.

One of the most dangerous pitfalls that the Chief or the Mayor/President and City Council/Board of Trustees may fall into may be that of presuming the Chief is all-knowing and will remain all-knowing in all areas concerning law enforcement. In reality, the Chief is the one person who, as the head of probably the most litigated department within the structure of a municipality, can mean the difference between a large economic loss that could be catastrophic for a small village, or a well-oiled agency that provides top services with limited economic loss exposure. As such, the continued training for the Chief is probably as important, if not more so, than the officer to whom you give a gun and put out on the street.

So the question is not whether continued training is important for the Chief of Police but, rather, what kind of training and where can it be obtained? This question is even more dramatic for small agencies which perhaps cannot afford, either in dollars or in manhours, to send their Chief away for weeks at a time, every year, so that he/she can stay current on the everchanging world of law enforcement.

One readily available source of training provided for Chiefs, that does not put a great deal of strain on either the towns' pocketbook or manhours, is obtained through membership with the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and by attending their semi-annual training conferences.

The training conferences, held at different locations throughout the State, are ideal avenues by which Chiefs, from either a one officer or a 100 officer department, may gain as much knowledge as possible in the three days that the conferences are held.

In addition to the legal update sections that are held at each conference, several training sessions (on a selected topic) are held throughout the conference.

For example, the Association's training theme for its most recent conference, held during January, 1991, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, was on disasters. Attendees at the conference were able to hear first hand from experts who have dealt with various forms of disasters and learn what worked and what didn't. Representatives from the law enforcement agencies from Plainfield (IL) P.])., San Francisco (CA) P.D., Scotland Yard (England), the Cook County Medical Examiners Office and the U.S. Air Force, all made presentations with first hand knowledge of recent disasters they had experienced and how they responded to them.

In addition to the formal training provided at the seminars, the training conferences provide an avenue for Chiefs from throughout the State, from small to large agencies, to meet and discuss various problems they are encountering. Oftentimes a Chief will discuss a

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Membership in the IACP also provides avenues for Chiefs of Police to have input in various areas that effect their police department and ultimately their municipality. Members, via committees of the Association made active through the efforts of the member Chiefs, have been able to have valuable input into areas of legislation, training for officers, a state memorial for officers killed in the line of duty, etc,

Active membership and participation in the training conferences of the Illinois Chiefs of Police Association is not a luxury. It is a demonstration of the effort of the municipality to allow its' Chief to not only stay current with the issues prevalent in the world of law enforcement of today, but also to prepare the Chief to meet the demands of law enforcement in the future.

For further information on the benefits of membership in the Illinois Association Chiefs of Police or the training conferences conducted by the Association, please contact either Mr. George Koertge, Executive Director of the Illinois Association Chiefs of Police at 217-523-3765, or IACP Membership Committee Co-Chairmen: Chief Robert J. Noonan, Troy P.D. at 618- 667-6731 or Chief James A. Wales, Lake in the Hills P.D., at 708-658-5676. •

May 1991 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 23