The 2025 International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA) Conference & Expo, held March 24–29 in St. Louis, Missouri, was an amazing experience and opportunity for all who attended. Regardless of specialty, if you’re a trainer, you owe it to yourself — and the people you train — to join ILEETA and attend this conference. Trainers from all over the world traveled to the Union Station Hotel to share information, techniques and tactics. Here are 10 standout moments and why they mattered.
1. Duane Wolfe honored as the 2025 ILEETA Trainer of the Year
The week kicked off with the opening ceremony and the 2025 ILEETA Trainer of the Year Award. Voted on by past award winners, this honor celebrates a trainer who tirelessly promotes the cause of training and enhances the competence and confidence of law enforcement professionals. This year’s recipient was Duane Wolfe, a retired Minnesota Peace Officer who served as a patrol officer, sergeant, S.R.T. member, and firearms and use-of-force instructor. Duane also spent 28 years as a full-time instructor at Alexandria Technical & Community College. He is a friend and mentor to many officers throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as a long-time columnist for Police1.
| RELATED: Read Duane Wolfe’s police training articles on Police1.
2. The Emerson Hour delivered purpose, passion and perspective
A longstanding highlight of ILEETA, the Emerson Hour features six surprise speakers — each with nine minutes to answer the question: “What has become clear to you since we last met?” No PowerPoint, no videos — just storytelling. This year’s speakers included Michael Marotta, Alexandra Kitty Nelson, Justin Witt, John T. Meyer Jr., Kerry Avery and Myles Cook. Each speaker delivered a powerful message on legacy, purpose and service.
3. Health and wellness in the spotlight with new early morning sessions
This year, ILEETA introduced a set of early morning health and wellness sessions. On Tuesday and Wednesday, “Yoga for Tactical Resilience” taught by Melissa Aguirre offered movement and mindfulness in an exceptional way. Thursday’s class, “There’s an APP for That: Assess, Prep, and Prime,” was led by ILEETA Deputy Executive Director Joe Willis and got attendees limbered up and moving. On Friday, Dr. Theresa Larson presented “Self-Mobilization: Improve Mobility and Decrease Pain.” A morning prayer group also offered spiritual fitness and has become an increasingly popular gathering.
| RELATED: Access more officer wellness content here.
4. The Expo floor connected trainers with the tools of tomorrow
I spent most of Tuesday and part of Wednesday morning visiting vendors at the 2025 ILEETA Expo. The show featured 123 vendors exhibiting everything from firearms and firearm accessories to clothing, duty belt gear, training mats and new virtual reality training simulators. This portion of the event connects instructors directly with the manufacturers who shape the tools used in our programs — ultimately benefiting officers, departments and the communities they serve.
5. Record-setting training hours with global participation
The classes at this year’s conference were exceptional, offering over 572 instructional hours. Around 850 attendees selected from a wide range of offerings including five armorer certification classes, 10 instructor certification courses and eight live-fire classes. Trainers came from across the United States and Canada, with international representation from Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. Seven attendees received full scholarships to attend. “We are excited about the continual growth after COVID and getting closer to those pre-COVID numbers!” said ILEETA Director of Operations Jenny Merlin.
6. Mock precinct training redefined how we evaluate recruits
One class that stood out was Lieutenant Queño Martinez’s “Your New Recruit’s Final Test: The Mock Precinct Culmination.” The course presented a capstone exercise designed to evaluate new academy graduates using a simulated “real-world” shift in a mock precinct. This immersive training model challenges recruits, provides real-time feedback and helps bridge the gap between academy and field training.
7. Live fire training moved indoors — and didn’t miss a beat
Due to construction, this year’s live-fire classes moved from the St. Louis Metro Police Department’s large outdoor range to an indoor facility. The Range St. Louis West stepped up to host, ensuring the success of these sessions. One of the most impactful was Sgt. Zach Steward’s Tactical Ballistic Shield Instructor Development Course, which taught instructors how to safely and effectively integrate ballistic shields into their firearms training. Skills covered included one-handed shooting, reloading, malfunction clearing, positional shooting and teamwork behind the shield.
| RELATED: How ballistic shields can improve officer safety
8. “Range Ninja” made marksmanship fun
Sgt. Billy Etheredge from the Potter County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office presented a live-fire course titled “Channeling Your Inner Range Ninja.” Etheredge challenged the notion that “basic” means boring, emphasizing that officers are more engaged — and learn more — when training is both educational and enjoyable. This session combined informative drills with creative teaching strategies to boost engagement and retention.
9. The Firearms Instructor Discussion Panel delivered practical insights
On Thursday afternoon, I moderated a panel featuring instructors who presented live-fire classes at the conference: Sgt. Billy Etheredge, Sgt. Zach Steward, Paolo Grandis from Italy, Art Aplan from the State of South Dakota Law Enforcement Training Center and Josh Logan from Guardian Training and Consulting. We covered everything from tactics, optics and situational awareness to VR training, movement, stress inoculation and performance shooting. It was a rich, solutions-focused discussion.
10. From arrival to departure, every moment mattered
From early morning wellness classes to late afternoon networking and everything in between, the 2025 ILEETA Conference & Expo offered non-stop opportunities for learning and connection. There was something for every trainer, and I’m already looking forward to the 2026 conference, scheduled for March 16–21, 2026. It’s shaping up to be another amazing event that transforms how we train and support the next generation of officers.
| RELATED: ILEETA announces historic partnership to advance global law enforcement training
