Entry-level police officers must complete basic law enforcement training. The course contains 640 hours of instruction and practical exercises and takes about 16 weeks to complete. It contains 36 blocks of instruction on such topics as:

• Arrest, search and seizure
• Driver training
• Firearms
• Motor vehicle law

An extensive ethics section is woven throughout the training experience.

Newly hired officers are assigned a field training officer and receive field training on:

• Community service
• Day-to-day activities of a police officer
• Practical aspects of law enforcement

During field training, new officers ride with the field training officer, an experienced officer who is trained to teach, coach and evaluate the new officer. The new officer must meet performance standards and pass an examination provided orally through a panel interview.

Police dogs are certified annually by an independent trainer.

Each month, the canine officers and their handlers train for at least 16 hours in a variety of scenarios and in different locations and weather conditions. They also train with handlers and dogs from surrounding agencies.

Officers have an annual minimum goal of 40 hours of elective training — external training that they can choose to attend beyond their required training.

Hillsborough officers are allowed up to 120 hours of elective training per year.

Certified officers are required by the state to receive 24 hours of annual in-service training. The state requires training in:

• Domestic violence
• Ethics
• Firearms
• Juvenile minority sensitivity
• Legal updates
• Proactive wellness 

Officers may choose from other topics to complete their required training, including:

• Engaging with people with views more extreme than the majority
• Enhancing community engagement
• Learning from local leaders who have dealt with civil unrest
• Partnering with community professionals
• Reducing the intensity of situations through listening, talking and defensive techniques 

The town provides annual driver training to its officers. In addition, the town manager and police chief help provide driver training to other police departments in the state through a course modeled after the Hillsborough "Slower Is Faster" program and sponsored by the N.C. League of Municipalities Risk Management Services Division. 

Claims from police vehicle collisions are one of the largest liabilities and costs that the league's insurance pool must pay for each year. Vehicle-related accidents also are the leading cause of police line-of-duty deaths and cause many deaths within communities. 

Tactics to Reduce Collisions

Town Manager Eric Peterson competes in motorsports and coordinates the annual training in Hillsborough, which emphasizes key tactics to perform while driving to reduce collisions:

• Looking ahead and scanning surroundings to avoid surprises.
• Braking early.
• Slowing down to leave a margin for error for the unexpected.
• Using self-talk to better perform under pressure.
• Breathing to remain calm.

The tactics help officers to keep their vehicles and cognitive functions under control. Adrenaline can impair driving by causing tunnel vision, loss of hearing, slowed reaction time, decreased motor skills, and a slowing of forebrain functions and cognitive processing. 

Training includes classroom instruction and practice behind the wheel that is focused on improving decision-making through various scenarios, including the sudden appearance of objects in the roadway. An instructor rides along to provide coaching.

The Police Department offers a variety of training in house, including the following.

Jiu Jitsu Training

The Police Department provides training in Brazilian jiu jitsu to increase officers' confidence in their ability to safely bring calm to intense and dangerous situations. The intent is to reduce the need for use of force. 

Jiu jitsu is a martial arts grappling technique that emphasizes taking an opponent to the ground, gaining a dominant position and using techniques to safely force the person into submission. The techniques allow dominance from any position and negate size and strength advantages. They allow officers to safely take someone into custody, including:

• Safely handcuffing a person.
• Safely stopping a person from hitting or hurting an officer.
• Safely extracting a person's arms if the person is face down possibly with a firearm or a weapon underneath.

Virtual Training

The Police Department owns a virtual reality training system that allows up to two officers to train together in a small space with a controlled environment. The training helps officers:

• Fine-tune work done on a daily basis, like vehicle stops.
• Learn how to safely respond to a variety of situations.
• Review where improvements are needed in their response.

Officers put on a headset and trackers for their wrist and tools. They train in scenarios created by the department or provided through the system, such as an active shooter situation. Officers are told what their scenario will be and the expected outcome. Their responses are unscripted.

A trainer monitors the training on a screen, where avatars for the training officers can be seen. A body camera view allows the trainer to see where the officer’s eyes are.

The virtual training can:

• Be manipulated to interact with the officers and their responses.
• Provide training for more real-life situations than basic training can offer.

Hillsborough officers have achieved certification in a number of trainings offered externally.

Crisis Intervention

Crisis intervention training creates connections among law enforcement, mental health providers, hospital emergency services and individuals with mental illness and their families. The training improves communication, identifies mental health resources for those in crisis, and ensures officer and community safety.

Law Enforcement Executive Program

The Law Enforcement Executive Program at N.C. State University provides twenty days of training over six months to effectively manage critical challenges. Participants enter the program with good basic managerial skills and a strong working knowledge of North Carolina local government and police service. Through the training, they build on those foundations and:

• Explore applying public management ideas and techniques for police agencies.
• Sharpen personal skills to excel as police managers.
• Think creatively about law enforcement management in increasingly complex, uncertain and changing environments.

Professional Certification

Officers can earn intermediate and advanced law enforcement certificates through the Law Enforcement Officers’ Professional Certificate Program. The program was established by the Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission to:

• Foster interest in college education and professional law enforcement training
• Attract highly qualified people into law enforcement

West Point Leadership Training

The West Point Leadership Course at Methodist University in Fayetteville is adapted from the military leadership course that is required of all cadets in their third year of study at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The academically rigorous course is adapted for use in non-military organizations and relies heavily on case-based learning. The training examines and integrates leadership from the perspective of the individual, group, leader and organization.