As Firehouse Sees It: When Your Training Goes on Trial

As I watched coverage of the murder trial of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, there were a few times when the questioning and testimony was relevant to fire and EMS personnel, not just law enforcement. It’s something that all fire chiefs and training officers should use as a clarion call to ensure that their department’s training and records are up to date.

The one area that hit home repeatedly was the questioning and testimony that was related to Chauvin’s training. Questions included whether the training that the officer received was correct, whether the proper procedures were used and who handled his training over the years. Also debated was the variation of techniques between what officers learn in the academy and what’s taught to them once they arrive on the streets. That already is a longtime debate in the fire service, with veteran firefighters often saying, “Forget what you learned at the academy, kid. We’ll teach you what you really need to know.”

Everyone who had a hand in Chauvin’s training, from academy instructors to field training officers to his commanders and police chief, was questioned about whether he used the techniques that he was taught by the department. The various ­Minneapolis police officials who took the stand stated that he didn’t employ the tactics that the department taught officers or that he used out-of-date techniques.

The police chief was put on the stand to testify by the prosecution, not by Chauvin’s lawyer, and the testimony was damning, not only to Chauvin but to anyone in the department who wasn’t up to speed on the latest techniques that are to be used in the field.

I understand that a police officer’s role in public safety varies greatly from that of a firefighters’, including use of force, which, of course, was front and center in that Minneapolis court room. However, in a litigious society in which cellphones are wielded as judge and jury, this trial is a reminder that fire departments must ensure that their training is current, that protocols are being followed and that all members are equally aware of changes.

Fire departments aren’t immune to lawsuits during their course of duties. In his March 2020 Fire Law column, Curt Varone shared statistics from his database that included 397 lawsuits that are related to structure fires; 77 percent of those named the fire department as the defendant. Ninety percent of 262 EMS-related suits that were in Varone’s database named the fire department as the defendant. Those suits primarily were based on allegations of negligence, followed by gross negligence and recklessness.

If you don’t know by now, you have to assume that every action that involves you—from in-station activities and training to emergency scenes—is being recorded by some medium and that your actions—whether well-intended or not—can be used against you at some point. People will pull out their cellphones to document what you are doing. That person-­down call at 2 a.m. on a Saturday in the bar district can go from a routine welfare check to something viral in minutes and put the department’s performance under the microscope.

In addition, this is a good reminder for chiefs and training officers to ensure that their records management is on task and organized. Most departments work to achieve ISO rankings or other certification with their recordkeeping, which also is called up during injury and death investigations. Documented training must be readily accessible for these instances, too. Within hours of another recent police shooting, the media and public called for the training records of the officer who was at the center of the incident, and the days that it took to produce the records were very heated.

While you work on your upcoming training plans, be sure to talk with others to ensure that your policies are recent and that you are documenting as you go.