The Mansfield University Public Safety Training Institute (MUPSTI)
recently hosted a two-day conference of the Pennsylvania Community Safety
Alliance.
The goal of the July conference was to develop a training curriculum specifically for campus police and security officers with the understanding that those officers face a policing environment that is significantly different from that encountered by municipal police officers.
“I am honored that the Mansfield University Public Safety
Training Institute is partnering with the Pennsylvania Community Safety
Alliance, and I am further honored that Mansfield University hosted this
conference which enabled positive discussion to occur from the many individuals
and agencies involved” said Scott Henry, Director of MU Police Services and
Safety. “The discussions provided input from many sources of critical
importance and expertise, which then allowed for proper educational modules to
be developed within the areas of empathy, diversity, community policing, and
more.
“This important information can be disseminated and utilized
by Law Enforcement within Higher Education.”
The attendees developed a five-day pilot training program
based upon diversity, equity, compassion, and empathy. The training program includes
modules addressing implicit bias, microaggressions, Title IX requirements,
policing and the autism spectrum, de-escalation techniques, mental illness
response, and community policing. The curriculum will also include traditional
police topics such as special event management, active assailant response, and
threat assessment.
The Mansfield University Public Safety Training Institute
will assume responsibility for further development and implementation of the
training program. The pilot class is expected to be offered at Mansfield
University in January 2021.
“Goals established in the conference provided the foundation
to disseminate these educational opportunities to Pennsylvania’s K-12 School
Resource Police, and finally to our overall law enforcement agencies within the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” said Henry.
More than twenty subject matter experts participated at the
conference, in person and remotely, including representatives of the following
organizations:
- Pennsylvania Community Safety Alliance
- Diversity Council of Rochester, Minnesota
- Mansfield University Diversity and Inclusion
Council - Tioga County Human Services
- The Camel Project, Reading, Pennsylvania
- The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
- Wellsboro Police Department
- National Association of Black Law Enforcement
Officers - Tioga County Commissioners
- Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers Education
and Training Commission - Northern Tioga School District
- NSENA
- Three Springs Ministries
- Millersville University
- Emergency Response Training and Certification
Association - Pennsylvania Crime Prevention Officers
Association - Mansfield University Public Safety Training
Institute
The MU Public Safety Training Institute (MUPSTI) is a regional training center providing initial and continuing professional education for criminal justice practitioners, first responders, public safety professionals, and the public. For more information, visit mansfield.edu/mupsti.