Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office
MAYS LANDING - Atlantic County's 1,044 law enforcement officers Sept. 21 began ICAT (Integrating Communication, Assessment, and Tactics) and ABLE (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement) training, Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Cary Shill announced.
The ICAT and ABLE training is mandated by the NJ Attorney General's Office for the implementation of the state's new Use of Force policy that becomes effective Dec. 31.
The mandated training is coordinated by each county prosecutor's office and consists of three days. Stockton University has graciously provided the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office with classroom space to hold the training sessions that are limited to 30 students per session.
According to Shill, the new Use of Force policy substantially overhauls the responsibilities of law enforcement officers' interactions with the public.
To ensure that all police officers are appropriately trained on their new responsibilities under the revised policy, New Jersey law enforcement officers will attend training that covers de-escalation techniques and other tactics aimed at limiting the use of force.
ICAT is a new way of thinking about use-of-force training for police officers that provides first responding police officers with the tools, skills, and options they need to successfully and safely defuse critical incidents. Developed with input from hundreds of police professionals from across the United States, ICAT takes the essential building blocks of critical thinking, crisis intervention, communications, and tactics, and puts them together in an integrated approach to training.
ICAT is designed especially for situations involving persons who are unarmed or are armed with weapons other than firearms, and who may be experiencing a mental health or other crisis. The training program is anchored by the Critical Decision-Making Model that helps officers assess situations, make safe and effective decisions, and document and learn from their actions. ICAT incorporates different skill sets into a unified training approach that emphasizes scenario-based exercises, as well as lecture and case study opportunities.
The ABLE Project delivers practical, scenario-based training for the strategies and tactics of police peer intervention. The ABLE Project guides agencies and communities on the concrete measures that must be in place to create and sustain a culture of peer intervention.
