The St. Louis-based annual ILEETA conference is designed for law enforcement instructors from around the world.
The best of the best attend to learn from others because we all know that learning never stops. Hundreds of sessions take place over the six-day conference, covering everything from “traditional” LE topics such as live fire at the St. Louis PD range (like Todd Fletcher’s totally amazing clock drill), de-escalation and hand-to-hand combat — to professional PowerPoint design and how to be a better instructor.
Some courses, such as the handful of manufacturer-led armorer certification courses, TASER, pepper spray and baton certification, would cost your agency hundreds of dollars and require staff travel to multiple locations. And the manufacturer trade show is an added bonus.
Tourniquet application under threat
While every course was valuable, one stood out because it isn’t a topic you hear about every day.
By now, everyone should know that the major simulator companies have moved on from marksmanship functionality to realistic de-escalation and dynamic active shooter scenarios with multiple branches depending on the officer’s actions.
Lon Bartel, principal researcher at VirTra, and a retired Peoria, Arizona, LEO, taught a session on tourniquet application under threat. This 4-hour training module is included on all VirTra purchased systems as part of the V-VICTA, or “Virtual Interactive Coursework Training Academy.” It is IADLEST-certified, along with approximately 15 other courses that VirTra offers that also are included in all of its systems.
It starts with an on-screen instructor showing how various styles of tourniquets are deployed and applied on yourself or another person using both one- and two-handed methods.
After training, the simulation moves on to a scenario that assumes that the student has been shot and needs to deploy a tourniquet — while the bad guys are still at large. Our session involved the officer, his partner and arriving backup. Salvatore “TJ” Alioto assisted Lon, while Jeff Knaup, VirTra’s Training Manager, ran the simulator.
Watch the training drill:
How did this class go over? Jeff shared this comment card: “This was a great training format for practical tourniquet application. An excellent session!”
SIG P365 armorer
There are dozens of armorer courses taught by manufacturer representatives. I took the P365 course, taught by Lt. Dennis Carroll. This all-day course is intense, and at my age, I needed to use a set of flip-down magnifiers and an LED light attached to my coffee cup.
Sabre BBQ dinner
Another ILEETA tradition is the BBQ dinner put on at the SABRE factory. After dinner, attendees are given an overview of the OC products developed and sold by Sabre, a tour of the factory, and we all left with a gift bag.
This year was no different, and Michael J. Patterson, Sabre’s Law Enforcement Sales Manager, gave us demos of multiple sprays using inert canisters, then introduced their new rifle-format pepper projectile launcher. A pistol version will be coming out soon.
Watch the Sabre SL-R12 in action:
To sum up
There were hundreds of other courses along with multiple social events, including the always-popular The Emerson Hour, a nine-minute presentation answering the question, “what has become clear to you in the last year with regards to law enforcement training?” without the use of any presentation aids except a microphone.
As Police1 contributor and training ninja Todd Fletcher says, “The ILEETA conference is the single best training event of the year. There are non-stop training opportunities from the time you arrive to the time you leave to go home. I always leave the conference exhausted, but it recharges my batteries year after year. The number of connections and opportunities available to members who attend the ILEETA conference is incredible. If you’re a trainer who isn’t attending the ILEETA conference, you’re doing yourself, your department and your students a disservice.”
See you in 2025? I hope so!
