Editor’s Note: This podcast is part of Police1’s Training Week, which explores how agencies can improve knowledge retention, prevent skill decay and ensure officers can apply what they’ve learned under pressure. Thanks to our Training Week sponsor, T4E.
Download this week’s episode on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify or via RSS feed, and watch the video version on Police1’s YouTube channel.
Affordable training equipment can give officers more opportunities to practice, but repetition alone does not make a skill last. An officer may look proficient by the end of a familiar drill and still struggle to recall or adapt that skill later, especially when an encounter adds movement, communication, uncertainty and time pressure.
In this special episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Warren Wilson speaks with Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story and Mike McCaslin, law enforcement and government channel manager for T4E – Training for Engagement. They examine what separates purposeful practice from simply adding more drills and how agencies can make limited training time count. The conversation covers spaced, variable and random practice; short, frequent training sessions; force-on-force scenarios; and the line between technical firearms performance and sound police decision-making.
Tune in to discover
- Whether officers need more repetitions, better repetitions or both
- How instructors can distinguish strong end-of-session performance from learning that lasts
- What spaced, variable and random practice can look like within limited training hours
- What force-on-force scenarios reveal that a range drill or classroom exercise may not
- How to add pressure and decision-making without overwhelming officers or turning scenarios into “gotcha” exercises
About our guests
Chief Jeremy Story leads the Las Cruces Police Department in New Mexico. During his career, he has served as a training director, gang task force supervisor and SWAT commander. He is also a master firearms instructor with the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, a grandmaster shooter with the United States Practical Shooting Association and a distinguished master with the International Defensive Pistol Association.
Mike McCaslin is the law enforcement and government channel manager for T4E – Training for Engagement. He has more than 23 years of experience across municipal, county, tribal and federal policing, with a focus on officer readiness and less lethal training.
About our sponsor
Training for Engagement – provides the industry’s most realistic training equipment to help professionals build skills with confidence and safety. From precision-engineered paintball markers that replicate duty firearms to high-quality gear for scenario-based training, T4E helps you prepare for real-world situations without real-world risk. Equip your team with tools that enhance muscle memory, accuracy, and decision-making under pressure. To explore the full line of training products, visit T4Eguns.com.
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