TITUSVILLE -- The new book from Genius Book Publishing, Arc Road, is not simply the product of a decade of research by author Tony Tiffin, it is also an evolutionary tale about society’s relationship with law enforcement. It starkly conveys how an incident in rural Gwinett County Georgia 55 years ago forever altered the way law enforcement interacts with citizens.
Tiffin, a Georgia native and space enthusiast, had visited The American Police Hall of Fame in Titusville, FL multiple times on his pilgrimages to nearby Kennedy Space Center.
“I knew that the National Association of Chiefs of Police (which operates the Hall of Fame) had good programs but I didn’t know the extent of it until my publisher and I began exploring partnering opportunities with the organization,” Tiffin recalled.
Following an October visit to the Hall of Fame, he announced that 10 percent of all national sales of Arc Road will go toward NACOP’s tactical training program for law enforcement, known as LEEP.
“I am excited that this partnership will actually help save lives moving forward. The thousands of names inscribed in the Museum’s memorial rotunda are crying out that we learn from their loss and make sure their incidents never repeat themselves,” Tiffin told an audience during his October visit.
“This facility focuses on past, present and future,” explained NACOP VP of Training & Strategic Development Tara Dixon Engel, “and I see Arc Road as a linkage to all three. The book recounts an incident that happened years ago, but that continues to be a cautionary tale to today’s officers. That tale begs us to preserve the lessons of Arc Road and apply them in the future.”
Engel added that NACOP’s new Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) -- www.NACOPLEEP.org— is designed to help officers learn from such lessons and return home safely after each shift.
“We know law enforcement agencies rarely have money to spend on state-of-the-art tactical training and they certainly can’t afford to bring in experts to train their officers. That’s where we come in. We are moving beyond traditional square range training and focusing on scenario-based, real-world experiences. Many of our LEEP classes are free and designed to meet officer time constraints. We are also bringing in specialized trainers – like Dave “Boon” Benton of Benghazi fame, who will be offering four-hour “skillbuilder classes” to Est. 1960 Est. 1967 LEOs on a regular basis. We want our officers to learn from people who have survived the most challenging situations and understand the mechanics of survival,” Engel explained.
She added that NACOP’s LEEP program is being supported by a variety of organizations including the Jeffrey Alexander Foundation of New York, the Vern Goding Trust in Melbourne, FL, the Ken Davis Foundation in Texas and the Community Foundation of Brevard in Florida.
“Right now we are focusing on training regional officers and those from adjoining states and we have partnered with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Eastern Florida State College to make our facility an auxiliary training location. But we plan to eventually bring in officers from across the country for specialized training. Tony’s generosity in dedicating a portion of Arc Road’s proceeds to our program will help make that a reality sooner,” the VP explained. “Tony and his publisher understand intuitively what every LEO knows…the first order of business is to go home at the end of your shift. Our LEEP initiative seeks to make that possible for more officers.”
NACOP officials and Tiffin are working together to build a training class based on the Arc Road story. Recently, national counter-terrorism trainer Jason Brooks used the Arc Road story as an illustrative tool as he taught Florida officers how to free themselves from restraints during an Oct. 28 free LEEP training session called “Advanced Officer Survival.”
For more information on the LEEP program, go to www.NACOPLEEP.org or to find out more about Arc Road, go to https://geniusbookpublishing.com/arc-road.html. Officers can inquire about upcoming LEEP classes by emailing Tarae@aphf.org.