In a job where split-second decisions save lives — or cost them — there is no substitute for experience. However, today’s police officers face a sobering reality: most new officers enter the field with limited preparation. According to Police1’s “What Cops Want in 2025” survey, 90% of officers identify a lack of experience as the top issue negatively affecting officer safety today, while 52% directly cite insufficient training as the root cause.
Agencies are being forced to ask a new question: What if the training does not stop at graduation? What if every shift becomes an opportunity to train smarter, faster, and with greater impact? This is not a pipe dream — it is a tactical adjustment with real promise. Departments can reshape routine patrols, roll calls and debriefs into bite-sized learning moments that build new officers’ confidence and decision-making without relying on overtime. These drills do not require new gear, extra funding, or spare units — just a shift in mindset.
| Click here to download the “What Cops Want in 2025" survey results
Turn roll call into real call preparation
For decades, roll call has been a catch-all for administrative updates, policy changes and shift assignments. However, what if the first 10 minutes of every roll call could do more than inform — what if it could transform?
Imagine this: before hitting the street, teams run 10-minute tabletop exercises or physical scenarios based on incidents from prior shifts. It could be a high-risk traffic stop, a mental health call that turned violent, or a domestic violence call where backup was delayed. The supervisor walks officers through the call, asks for input and calls on the new officers to role-play the incident. Mistakes are made, corrections are shared and everyone walks out sharper.
This kind of “roll-call repetition” is specific, fast and leverages the collective knowledge of officers in the room. Over time, these reps create knowledge, build confidence and improve decision-making. Moreover, for new officers still finding their footing, it provides a safe training environment in which to try, fail, and try again — without real-world consequences.
Using high-risk calls as teaching moments
No classroom can replicate the tension of a real-life high-risk call. However, what happens after the call? Is it just checked off the log, or does it provide an opportunity to sharpen skills? Agencies across the country are beginning to adopt what some refer to as “on-scene teach-backs.” Here’s how it works: once the scene is secure, a supervisor pulls a new officer aside and walks them through decision-making alternatives. “Why did you approach from that angle? What made you decide to go hands-on when you did?” It is not a pop quiz — it is a training dialogue.
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This kind of real-time reflection improves decision-making. When officers describe their reasoning, they learn faster. Supervisors can spot gaps in thinking, correct mistakes early and reinforce good instincts. Because this type of training is tied to a fresh, emotionally vivid experience, it sticks.
According to the “What Cops Want” survey, officers overwhelmingly believe that judgment — not just knowledge — is the area where new officers fall short. These post-call teach-backs provide new officers with the repetitions they need to build confidence, one call at a time.
Incorporate a fast feedback loop at the end of each shift
In sports, elite athletes review videotapes of their performances. In the military, after-action reviews are standard evaluation tools. So why not bring that same discipline to policing? At the end of each shift, officers — especially those who are new — should sit down for a 5- to 10-minute video debrief. This does not require body-worn footage from every interaction. Instead, a simple squad car dashcam clip or a phone recording of a role-play during roll call can work. What matters is the review:
- What did the officer do well?
- What could be done differently next time?
- Did body language match voice tone?
- Was there an opportunity to de-escalate earlier?
This feedback loop does not need to be formal or punitive; it can be informal and constructive. It is more effective if structured as a coaching session rather than a critique of performance. Supervisors or senior officers, while leading with understanding, need to maintain a tight focus. One video. One behavior to reinforce. One skill to improve.
Micro-debriefs encourage growth but should be structured to avoid overload. Over time, they build a reflective mindset — one of the strongest predictors of performance. They also help counteract the “fog of war” effect where officers remember a call one way, only to see something very different during playback.
Culture shift: Train like you fight, fight like you train
There is also a cultural consideration to this. These shift-level training techniques only work if the department commits to them — not just as an experiment but as a philosophy. Field training officers (FTOs), supervisors and command staff must model the behavior. Praise it. Protect the time for it and build it into an operational expectation.
When a department decides that training does not end after the academy — that it lives in every interaction, every call, every shift — that is when transformation happens. Officers stop seeing mistakes as failures and start seeing them as learning opportunities. Teams get tighter, and confidence grows.
Conclusion
Police1’s “What Cops Want in 2025” survey is a call to action. When 90% of officers believe that new officers’ inexperience is the biggest challenge they face, and over half believe training is inadequate, the solution cannot just be “wait for experience to kick in.” Experience takes time — but growth doesn’t have to.
Departments that turn everyday work into high-quality, hands-on practice give their new officers a greater chance to succeed. Reshaping routine patrols, roll calls and debriefs into bite-sized learning moments can improve decision-making, build better-prepared officers and make every shift not just safer but smarter.