Law Enforcement Training
Betsy and Dave Smith teach courses on leadership, communication, emotional survival, and officer safety and survival from a mindset perspective
Betsy also leads workshops on such topics as career survival, applying "warrior values" to all aspects of a police agency, off duty considerations, inter-departmental communication, and helping police marriages thrive.
All of these courses are adaptable to your specific agency or corporate needs.
Winning Mind Seminars
Dave Smith and Elizabeth Brantner Smith created “Winning Mind Seminars” after recognizing that officer survival training must be combined with leadership principles, mindset preparation, and body language and communication skills to be optimally effective.
Veteran police and corporate trainers with over 50 years combined experience, Dave, Betsy and their staff of instructors, experts and customer service specialists guarantee you an outstanding experience from start to finish!
Click on a link below to get more information about the courses offered.
Don't Whine…WIN! Female Leadership in a Paramilitary Environment is the result of over twenty years of continuing research. It's time to stop being afraid of gender differences in Training, Tactics, Communication and Leadership! This course is designed to provide all personnel with science-based, real world knowledge of gender differences and how that information can be harnessed to improve performance, morale, relationships, and most importantly, officer safety.
Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith (ret.) will guide students through an intensive, interactive session that will provide attendees with updates and information they can employ to improve and enhance both the professional and personal lives of their staff, their co-workers, and themselves. We start with the history of warrior values and then add gender-specific science and leadership principles that anyone can use to help themselves and their employees avoid the “victim-based mentality” and learn to truly motivate and improve morale. The multi-media format keeps students on the edge of their seats while we provide tips and tactics that attendees can use to foster better organizational communication, enhance their training and mentoring programs, and adapt for their own personal use long after the conference has concluded.
We'll discuss training, equipment, off-duty survival, mentoring, defining success, relationships, promotion, dealing with bureaucracy, learning to forgive but not forget, and how to truly become a leader within the organization and help others do the same. This course will inspire, motivate, and encourage each student to help the women and the men of their organization to excel and to win, regardless of assignment!
"The Love/Hate Relationship Between Cops and Dispatchers" Improving the Dispatcher/First Responder Roles in Public Safety Organizations is a popular workshop that has been instrumental in helping organizations improve relationships with dispatchers and the first responders they serve. We recognize that all personnel are trying to do essentially the same job from two very different locations and perspectives. They often have separate rules, dissimilar shifts, and frankly, neither entity truly understands the other. Recognizing “The Love/Hate Relationship” can bring dispatchers, first responders, and their supervisors and managers together like no other workshop offered on the market today.
This interactive, multi-media session will give attendees the insight they need to bridge the gap between line personnel and the dispatchers and call-takers that support help them and help everyone see, hear and feel what is happening on both sides of the microphone. As public safety organizations, we must recognize that the actions, instincts, and expertise of a good dispatcher can play a vital role in police officer safety and survival and managers can bring both sides together to work as a team.
A dispatcher can be a police officer’s life-line in a dangerous encounter. This workshop will give everyone who attends new insight into bringing those on the street and those in the communications center together, and will be tailored to your organization.
This course will provide additional insight on:
- Helping dispatchers understand officer survival tactics on and off the street
- Recognizing the unique stressors dispatcher face on every tour of duty
- Applying “warrior ethos” to the dispatch function as well as the entire organization
- Defining respectful and “tactical” communication techniques for all personnel
- Bringing dispatchers and officers together before, during and after a critical incident
- How you and your personnel can communicate effectively within your organization... really
- Helping personnel understand and appreciate gender and generational differences
- Learning to manage and use “conflict” to become a truly functional team
- And so much more!
"The Winning Mind" is Dave's core class and is designed to give each participant the necessary insight into reaching optimal levels of human performance in life & death confrontations. By looking at the key components of peak performance, Dave Smith presents an entertaining & inspiring program designed to help everyone, regardless of their experience, optimize their odds of winning any confrontation. Since first being presented in 1987, The Winning Mind has evolved into one of the most remarkable training experiences that law enforcement personnel have ever attended. From Mexico to Canada, The Winning Mind has given men & women the mental edge they need to not only face threats on the street but also the stresses they may confront in their daily lives.
Dave also offers
"The Winning Mind for Women," a course originally developed for the Minnesota Association of Women Police and presented at their annual conference. In his many training positions, including training commander of the Arizona State Police, Dave's philosophy has always been "Don't tell officers what they can't do, show them what they can do and expect them to do it well." As an advocate of female law enforcement officers, Dave encourages women in law enforcement to reflect on their successes and look toward a bright and rewarding future. "The Winning Mind for Female Officers" offers all the components of Dave's original "Winning Mind" course but adds gender-specific science and leadership principles that women will use to enhance their personal and professional lives. This session can be team-taught with Sgt. Betsy Smith to add an additional and unforgettable dynamic to the classroom.
"Courageous Leadership in Uncertain Times" addresses how we can guide others to better performance by reviewing historic, scientific, and real life examples that will ultimately improve our own abilities, skills, and beliefs. All who attend will be challenged to truly examine their own role in serving and protecting the community and how that role will continue to change as does our society.
This program reveals the skills we must have to have to bring out the best in ourselves and in others. Additionally, this course examines some of the traits we find in the greatest leaders each of us has ever known. Law enforcement does not have a "private" rank; it is imperative everyone posses the skills of leadership for an agency to be its best. We begin by acknowledging that all law enforcement personnel are serving in an uncertain and ever-changing environment. Further, we all must be the “leader,” regardless of assignment. By using history, generational and gender research, science, and current events as our guide, students will begin to see their own critical role in the success of the agency’s mission. Understanding these key points and learning the skills to overcome the obstacles inherent in law enforcement systems will give attendees the ability to not only help others cope with and overcome these barriers, but will allow them to ultimately help themselves and improve their personal performance, outlook and attitude, both on and off the job.
"Career and Tactical Survival for Women" is one of the most unique and popular courses offered by the "Winning Mind Seminars" team. Sgt. Betsy Smith guides students through 8 hours of intensive, interactive training that will provide attendees with updates and information they can employ to improve and enhance both their professional and personal lives.
"Officer Survival" is the thread that runs through the entire day as we start with the history of women as warriors and then add gender-specific science and leadership principles that women can use to further their careers and improve their lives off the job. The multi-media format keeps students on the edge of their seats while we provide tactical updates and skills demonstrations that officers can easily adapt for their own use long after the seminar has concluded. We'll also discuss off-duty survival, family relationships, pregnancy on the job, how to make yourself truly "promote-able," and many other groundbreaking topics. During this intense session students will also be exposed to:
- The simple essentials of maintaining a great attitude
- How to leave behind the "victim-based" mentality
- Why and how to embrace a warrior mindset regardless of your career path
- Recognizing and taking advantage of the differences between men and women
- Learning to communicate effectively with everyone in the agency, and in your life
- Embracing your responsibility for your own tactics, training, and survival
- How to bring your family into your world to enhance off duty safety and your relationships
- Finding and using the best female-specific equipment available
- Learning to lead regardless of your place in the agency
- How to increase your awareness and overcome the complacency that kills
- How to assess your own career and come up with a plan for real success
- Why fear is a "gift" that should be controlled and exploited for officer survival
- How to truly embrace "the brotherhood" of law enforcement and stand together
This training is like no other in that it encourages women, and those who train and supervise them, to look beyond the anecdotal, "that's-the-way-we've-always-done-it" world of learning and utilize science, physiology and proven methods and information that will help anyone in law enforcement improve their career and their survival. Sgt. Smith's philosophy of "teaching by storytelling" cites real-world, inspirational examples of courageous men and women whose stories stay with the attendees long after the class has concluded. The atmosphere created in the classroom encourages students to network and gain strength and information from each other, making this session a powerful day for all involved. This course will inspire, motivate, and encourage women to excel and to win, regardless of assignment!
"Beyond Off Duty Survival: Bringing Your Family Into Your World" was originally developed for the United States Border Patrol and is now available to all law enforcement organizations. It combines the best of several other "Winning Mind Seminars" courses into one outstanding day of training and information.
Most law enforcement training focuses on getting you home in one piece at the end of each shift, and yet sixteen percent of police officer murders occur off duty. Dave and Betsy Smith have authored numerous articles on this topic and now offer a course like no other that can be attended not only by police officers but by their spouses, partners, and older children. This class teaches officers what off duty threats they may face and how to respond safely and tactically, and then goes even further, helping them to teach their families how to stay safe and respond appropriately when the unthinkable happens. We also discuss family firearms safety, officer ambush, levels of risk, and how to bring your family into "your world" in a safe and healthy manner.
This training then goes beyond "off duty survival" and talks about how to survive and thrive in your personal relationships. Police work is notoriously hard on marriages, families and relationships. Cops have a 75% divorce rate, a high rate of alcoholism, and we die twice as often by our own hand as we do in deadly force assaults. Issues such as effective communication, what cops really do at work, dealing with career disappointments, domestic violence, balancing control at home, and making peace with a work-related critical incident are just a few of the topics we'll discuss in this fast-paced, entertaining presentation. Constantly updated with new information and real-life examples, this course helps fill in the gaps between your work world and your personal life.
Facilitated by Dave and Betsy Smith, they bring their unique experiences as cops, spouses, parents, step-parents, and law enforcement trainers to this unprecedented look into the real life of cops and their friends and families. This course will provide attendees with resources, networking opportunities, and a chance to share their experiences with others.
At the end of this training students will have learned:
- Why, how and what weapons and tools to have available in an off duty situation and how to make your family a part of the process.
- How to develop and nurture a winning mindset on the street and still be a good spouse, parent, and friend.
- Effective ways to help your loved ones understand what you do, how you think, and why you act the way you do, both on and off duty.
- Teaching various levels of firearms safety to any member of your inner circle.
- What are some of the distracters officers may encounter from home and how to make sure they don't interfere with tactical integrity.
- How to maximize your job enjoyment and success by making your friends and family career allies.
The Smith's believe that you must "train for your relationships as hard as you train for your survival." You can be the best cop, agent, correctional officer, or commander in your agency, but if you want to be a "winner" in your personal life; tactically, mentally and emotionally, this course is essential to your success!
Career & Officer Survival for Dispatchers: Managing the Dispatcher's Role in Officer Survival and Community Safety
Cops and dispatchers are trying to do essentially the same job from two very different locations and perspectives. They often have separate rules, dissimilar shifts, and frankly, neither entity truly understands the other but they are all trying to serve their community and keep it, and each other, safe. This interactive, multi-media training course will give dispatchers, supervisors, and managers the insight they need to bridge the gap between line personnel and the dispatchers and call-takers that support them.
This workshop will help you see, hear and feel what is happening on both sides of the microphone and recognize that the actions, instincts, and expertise of a good dispatcher can play a vital role in police officer safety and survival and managers can bring both sides together to work as a team.
Nearly 150 police officers are killed in the line of duty each year; fifty-nine thousand are assaulted and over sixteen thousand suffer injuries. A dispatcher can be a police officer's life-line in a dangerous encounter. This course will give all personnel new insight into bringing those on the street and those in the communications center together in a positive, functional environment.
This course will provide additional insight on:
- Helping dispatchers understand officer survival tactics on and off the street
- Understanding the unique stressors dispatcher face on every tour of duty
- Recognizing gender and generational differences and how these affect the cop/dispatcher relationship
- Applying "warrior values" to the dispatch function
- Defining respectful and "tactical" communication techniques
- Bringing dispatchers and officers together before, during and after a critical incident
- How you and your personnel can communicate effectively within your organization... really
- Helping personnel develop successful leadership skills, regardless of rank or assignment
- When, how and why to bring dispatchers to a critical incident de-briefing
- Why you should drop the phrase "team player" from your management vocabulary and actually become a functioning team
- Learning to leaving behind "political correctness" to benefit both cops and dispatchers
Dave Smith’s
"Leadership for Optimal Performance" addresses the critical truth that “leadership” is not the function of a particular position within an agency but what one does with the position they are in. This program identifies and explores the skills each of us needs to bring out the best in ourselves and in others. Dave examines some of the traits found in the greatest leaders known and helps students apply those traits and skills to their own situations. Students gain an awareness that we are the “leader” when we talk to a victim of a crime on the phone, dispatch an officer, arrive at a chaotic scene, advise a trainee on the proper way to search a building, run a staff meeting or manage an entire organization. This awareness is a major step in seeing our critical role in the success of our agency’s mission, no matter what our position, rank, or function.
This program explores how true leaders can get the best from their people while at the same time combat the effects of routine, organizational stress and the roles imposed on them by bureaucracy. Dave incorporates elements from some of his most popular courses including “Buck Savage and the Power of Positive Annoyance,” “Training for the Risk Thermostat” and “The Winning Mind.” “Leadership for Optimal Performance” is one of the most unique law enforcement training experiences available today, and is appropriate for all personnel, from dispatchers and recruits to chiefs and sheriffs.
"Training For the Risk Thermostat" premiered at the 2001 ASLET Conference in Orlando, Florida and was later introduced into the Calibre Press "Street Survival" seminar in 2004. Risk is sensation that law enforcement officers actively seek in their lives. Traditional training has failed to recognize the need to reinforce the perception of risk in law enforcement.
Each of us not only has a tolerance of and for risk, but a need, an emotional demand for risk. It is that demand for risk, balanced by our fear, knowledge and skills, that gives us the courage to react and adds real satisfaction to our lives.
This course explores the effect of routine on human performance and how a lowered perception of risk increases the probability of officers taking greater risks. This course is based on current research and is a must for all agencies concerned with modernizing their training programs.
"Using "Gender Intelligence" to Improve Officer and Career Survival in Police Personnel" is the result of over twenty years of continuing research and is now available in a two, four or eight hour block of instruction for ALL law enforcement personnel.
It's time to stop being afraid of gender differences in Training, Tactics, and Communication! This course is designed to provide all personnel with science-based, real world knowledge of gender differences and how they can be harnessed to improve performance, morale, relationships, and most importantly, officer safety.
Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith (ret.) will guide students through an intensive, interactive session that provides attendees with updates and information they can employ to improve and enhance both the professional and personal lives of their staff, their co-workers, and themselves. We start with the history of warrior values and then add gender-specific science and leadership principles that anyone can use to help themselves and their employees avoid the "victim-based mentality" and learn to truly motivate and improve morale. The multimedia format keeps students on the edge of their seats while we provide tips and tactics that attendees can use to foster better organizational communication, enhance their training and mentoring programs, and adapt for their own personal use long after the conference has concluded.
We'll discuss training, equipment, off-duty survival, mentoring, defining success, relationships, dealing with pregnancy on the job, learning to forgive but not forget, and how to truly make yourself a leader in your organization and help others do the same. This course will inspire, motivate, and encourage you to help the women and the men of your organization to excel and to win, regardless of assignment!
"What's Wrong With These Kids?!" was developed for Team One Network's outstanding staff of tactical and firearms instructors and has proved to be an extraordinarily popular conference breakout session. It's not unusual to have a large number of officer trainees entering the academy who have never been in a fight in their lives. Many do not understand what it means to work professionally in a para-military environment. They seem to have short attention spans and expect immediate gratification, and yet the newest generation of police officers is one of the most talented. How do we harness that talent and turn them into "warriors?"
The challenge of bringing all personnel to a high level of success and performance is the same as it has always been... understand their strengths and weaknesses and use the former to eliminate the latter. In "What's Wrong With These Kids" we examine societal & generational changes that affect the law enforcement profession and helps trainers and managers work more effectively with "Generation X," "Generation Y" ("The Millenniums") and now the "Peter Pans." Officers starting today are a technologically savvy, inquisitive generation of young people. The potential is remarkable if leaders and trainers will step up and evaluate traditional methods of leading and training from the standpoint of using experiences and technology to improve performance. This course can also be presented as
"Supervising A New Generation" for supervisors and managers. This program has proven to be a powerful organizational team-building event!
"Buck Savage and The Power of Positive Annoyance" was developed by Dave for the Colorado Chapter of the National Association of Field Training Officers in 2005. Ever wondered where "Saw Drunk, Arrested Same" and "Watch The Hands" came from? In this multimedia presentation, Dave takes students through the "birth" of Officer J.D. 'Buck' Savage of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. From his days as a nameless character utilized by his alter ego Sgt. Dave Smith to entertain and teach recruit officers at the academy through Buck's nearly 30 years of video immortality, this course quickly turns from pure entertainment to an unforgettable lesson in leadership, risk-taking and organizational change. Students will not only review the timeless officer survival lessons taught by "Officer Savage" but they will learn how to utilize Dave Smith's "Power of Positive Annoyance" to benefit themselves and their agency.
Dave Smith's "The Winning Mind"
For Organizational, Officer, and Career Survival for Law Enforcement
One of the most essential elements of police officer survival training is "mindset." It doesn't matter how many weapons you have or many tactical maneuvers you know, if you don't have the right mindset to use them, properly and righteously, they may do you no good. This course goes beyond "survival" and helps students learn how to "win" in every situation, from a deadly force incident to a promotional exam to conflict at home, in the office, or in the courtroom.
Recognizing that "winning" means so much more than just "stopping the threat" and getting home in one piece every night, this two-day course begins by helping students define what "success" means to them as individuals. We identify the principles of true "courageous leadership" and teach students to apply them consistently to the decision-making process, both within the station and on the street. Students will be introduced to "victim-based thinking" and will learn how not to fall prey to a victim-based culture despite the necessary bureaucracy of working in any government organization. We discuss the power of forgiveness, personal responsibility and help participants learn to move forward after a critical incident or other significant career challenge.
We then talk about organizational communication in a realistic and entertaining format, looking at gender-specific science, brain function, generational issues, and body language awareness. Students will be given strategies to tackle real-world obstacles to effective leadership and personal job satisfaction through communication, training, and skill-building. We address the critical truth that "leadership" is not a function of a particular position within an agency but what one does with the position they are in. In a fast-paced, team-teaching format, we examine traits found in the greatest leaders known and helps students apply those traits and skills to their own situations. Students gain an awareness that in law enforcement we are the "leader" when we talk to a victim of a crime on the phone, dispatch an officer, arrive at a chaotic scene, advise a trainee on the proper way to search a building or run a command staff meeting or set up a raid. This awareness is a major step in seeing our critical role in the success of our agency's mission, no matter what our position, rank, or function.
We then move on to developing a true winning mindset; this element of the course is designed to give each participant the necessary insight into reaching optimal levels of human performance in life & death confrontations. We'll study the effects of routine on officer survival and by looking at the key components of peak performance, we'll present strategies to give men & women the mental edge they need to face not only threats on the street but also the stresses they may confront in their daily lives. Using real world examples of officer-involved critical incidents, we'll discuss force options, the relationship between confidence and competence, how to reset your own "risk thermostat," and how to maximize officer use of force before, during and after an incident. We'll also address off duty survival and how to prepare your family before the unthinkable occurs.
This extraordinary program helps students combat the effects of routine, organizational stress and the role imposed on them by bureaucracy and teaches them the necessary skills to overcome the obstacles inherent in all law enforcement systems. We give students the ability to not only help others cope and overcome those barriers, but how to ultimately help themselves and improve their personal performance, survivability, outlook and attitude, both on and off the job.
"The Winning Mind for Organizational, Officer and Career Survival" is one of the most unique law enforcement training experiences available today and will help anyone who attends to develop their own "Winning Mind!"
"What Did You Just Say? A Real World Guide to Organizational Communication" is the one of the most popular courses offered by "Winning Mind Seminars." This one-day or half-day course taught by Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, offers a unique mix of motivation, leadership, body language awareness and real world communication skills designed to enhance your organization's ability to "accomplish the mission," both on the street and in the station. The fast-paced, multi-media format immediately gets students attention and keeps them engaged while we provide tips, tactics and information that anyone can easily adapt for their own use long after the seminar has concluded. The principles explored in this course are a realistic and dynamic look at truly incorporating effective communication skills into all aspects of law enforcement, from dispatch to supervision, from patrol work to investigations. This course will go far beyond the usual in-service training and teach everyone to really communicate! This course can also be presented in a two instructor format for additional impact!
"Married to a Crimefighter" Police work is notoriously hard on marriages and families. Cops have a 75% divorce rate, a high rate of alcoholism, and we die twice as often by our own hand as we do in deadly force assaults. Issues such as effective communication, what cops really do at work, off-duty survival, domestic violence, balancing control at home, and making peace with a work-related critical incident are just a few of the topics we'll discuss in this fast-paced, entertaining presentation. Facilitated by a Betsy Smith, a police sergeant, mother/step-mother of four, and wife of a former police lieutenant, this workshop will provide attendees with resources, networking opportunities, and a chance to share their experiences with others. This is a perfect course to offer for spouses at any law enforcement conference or in-service training.
