Page 25 - Top Cover Issue 4

TOP COVER +557'

e’ve seen a lot of teachers
do a lot of things, but
when you’re watching a
9trainer explain how to
dispatch a cow, gain entry onto a house
full of villains or deal with a sabre-
wielding alcoholic, we know that we
can only be in one place: the National
Firearms Instructors Course.
When we were asked if we would take
part in a training programme with Kent
Police in 2010, as University lecturers
we jumped at the chance of a change
of scenery. In our day job we teach
teachers, mostly in colleges of Further
Education, delivering a two-year part-
time qualification that entitles the holder
to work as a lecturer in a college, adult
education centre and so on. Teaching
methods, assessment techniques, dealing
with training rooms and ICT are all part
and parcel of what we do on a daily basis.
So our brief was fairly straightforward: to
deliver this qualification for a group of
Officers in Kent coming from all parts of
the UK. No problem there then.
It was when we heard that the Police
in question would be Firearms Officers
that the questions started coming. Who
were these people? What did they do?
What could they possibly want from us?
Were we in danger? We soon found out
as we planned and delivered training as
part of the National Firearms Instructor’s
course at Kent Police College.
T e programme lasts six weeks, and
is likely to grow into seven very soon.
It mixes the intensive technical training
needed by anyone in charge of firearms
training, and the academic input that
supports this expertise by providing a
base in how to convey it effectively. Our
first concern wasn’t the course content
though, but our own credibility. Who
did we think we were? And as we started
preparing for the programme, it became
clear that we had a lot to learn. But the
Chief Firearms Instructor at Kent Police
College Tactical Firearms unit made sure
there were discussions about content,
manuals were inspected and of course
sessions on the range organised. Time in
Kent’s judgment suite was particularly
useful; although we had never held a
weapon before, we were taken through
the process of responding in a critical
shooting incident, and then debriefed.
T e learning curve was huge: seeing what
it’s like to feel the pressure, work as a