In this Episode Michael Simpkins talks with Darren Dake the founder and COO of the Death Investigation Academy and the Coroner Talk Podcast. We talk about the good and bad of online training and he provides us with strategies to help us improve at what we do... teach police officers.

Hey everyone… Michael Simpkins here, welcome to Episode 4 of The Police Instructor’s Podcast… thank you so much for joining me today… I appreciate you taking the time to listen. My name is Michael Simpkins, I’m here sharing important information with you covering different aspects of law enforcement, with an emphasis on training.

In this episode I’m speaking with Darren Dake, the founder and COO of the Death Investigation Training Academy in Cuba, Missouri.

Darren Dake is a certified instructor and criminal investigator with over 30 years’ experience in the field of law enforcement and death investigations. He holds certification as an instructor for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Missouri Sheriff’s Association, and the Law Enforcement Training Institute – (Missouri University Columbia). Darren is founding director and lead instructor for the Death Investigation Training Academy™ and publisher of the Coroner Talk Podcast™ and the Death Investigator Magazine

Make sure you pay attention because Darren has some good strategies to share with us that can help us in the planning, developing and implanting of our courses. Make sure to pay attention all the way through, and I’ll meet up with you at the end.

Thank you for being here with me today Darren, I’m extremely excited you’re here, welcome to the Police Instructor’s Podcast.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1.Is there a secret or technique you can share with our listeners that helps you think “outside of the box” when planning and developing learning content?

Listen to your student

2.What is one of your daily habits you strongly believe contributes to your success?

Start the morning off on a positive

3.Tell us about a challenging time or situation you and your company faced concerning training, but you persisted – made the tough decisions… and now, that once painful memory serves as an invaluable learning experience.

Keeping an open mind

4.What’s the most critical skill you think police instructors need to master in order to thrive today?

Embrace online training

5.When it comes to developing and implementing effective police training, what was the most influential lesson you ever learned from one of your mentors and how did it help you become the leader you are today?

We need to do our job so perfect that the judges and lawyers can’t even screw it up

6.If there was a magic “reset” button as it relates to course creation… what systems would you go back and put into place sooner rather than later… and why?

We need to interact with our people more

7.What one strategy – or recipe – that police course creators could consistently apply every day – that would compound into big wins for them?

Remain relevant

8.Imagine you’re standing in front of a room of police instructors – people – just like you. They’re battling their way through fears, worries, doubts, and struggles to find their footing. What are 2 or 3 strategies you would recommend they focus on to best ensure success?

You’re not alone

Ways to Contact Darren:
•Company Website: http://coronertalk.com/
•Podcast: Listen to the Coroner Talk Podcast Here
•Death Investigation Website: https://ditacademy.org/