(Developed and sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
 

The following provides a summary of available courses in occupant protection for law enforcement officers.

Please note that all courses can be modified to fit your agency’s needs and time constraints.

 

TOPS is an updated law enforcement course that replaces the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Occupant Protection Usage and enforcement (OPUE) course.  The TOPS course covers a wide range of information addressing education reporting and enforcement issues related to occupant protection and includes the dynamics of vehicle crashes and the risks faced by law enforcement officers.  It also instructs law enforcement officers how to conduct an initial evaluation of a crash scene, and how to assist in crash reconstruction.  Other course modules include subjects such as “looking beyond the ticket” for criminal infractions, management of resources, public information, outreach techniques, working with community advocacy groups and the media, and air bag rescue guidelines.  Course participants will also receive videotape containing 50 clips.  The full course can run 2-days (7 modules), however, it can be shorter based on the number of modules selected.  OUTCOME:  Participants who complete this course will have the knowledge and resources to confidently provide outreach to their communities on a variety of occupant protection issues.
 

This workshop is primarily for law enforcement officers who were previously trained as OPUE instructors, and/or those with teaching/instructing experience, and/or those with interest in traffic safety, in particular occupant protection.  The purpose of this workshop is to familiarize participants with the new TOPS curriculum.  This workshop, developed by NHTSA Region III staff, is only offered in this Region.  When all TOPS modules are reviewed, the workshop is 1½ days.  OUTCOME:  Participants who complete this workshop will have the knowledge, skills, and resources to provide TOPS training to their fellow officers.
 

This workshop is intended for the law enforcement officers as a supplement to the TOPS curriculum.  There is a 4-hour format for general awareness and is designed primarily for law enforcement administrator; and 8-hour format which serves as a law enforcement orientation on basic child passenger safety awareness, injury prevention, correct use and installation of child restraint systems, and the need for enforcement of child passenger safety laws; and a 16-hour format which is a more technical, hands-on training program which covers the basics of injury prevention, hands-on experience with correct use and installation, compatibility of child safety seats and vehicles, and developing child passenger safety community programs.  After completing this course, officers should have enhanced knowledge of the resources available for child passenger safety, including information sources, materials, and public assistance.  OUTCOME:  This course encourages officers to take a more active role in extending their agency’s enforcement guidelines and strategies to include child passenger safety.
 

This class is designed to present Law Enforcement Officers in West Virginia with update information that will better prepare them to detect, arrest and prosecute impaired drivers within the state. Primary emphasis of the training is in the three phases of DUI detection, those being the Vehicle in Motion, Personal Contact (with the impaired driver) and Pre-Arrest Screening. The course provides the officers with legal updates concerning United States and West Virginia Supreme Court cases as well new techniques and methods addressing the three phases. A primary emphasis of the class is the provision of update and refresher training to the officers concerning the administration of the Standardized Field Sobriety Test Battery (SFST), an important tool used identifying impaired drivers during the Pre-Arrest Screening Phase. Interwoven through the class is the presentation of techniques that will better prepare them to present the DUI-related arrests they make in criminal and administrative hearings.
 

This class is designed for those law enforcement officers, primarily non-supervisory officers, who will be manning sobriety checkpoints within West Virginia as part of the State’s strong participation in the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Region III Checkpoint Strikeforce program. The course presents training as to the need and purpose of checkpoints, the court decisions concerning sobriety checkpoints, the steps to be taken prior to setup/operation of a checkpoint, the actual operation of a checkpoint and the proper prosecution, criminal and administrative of DUI-related arrests stemming from a sobriety checkpoint.

Through the course the officer comes to understand the impact and usage of a sobriety checkpoint as part of a comprehensive education/awareness and enforcement program to reduce the numbers of individuals who will drive impaired within the State of West Virginia. The training presented in this class will also ensure that sobriety checkpoints are continued to be operated within West Virginia in conjunction with the United States and West Virginia Supreme Court decisions so as to allow the continued use of this important tool and to insure that legal challenges stemming from their increased usage will not lead to a decision to stop their usage.
 

This class is designed for those supervisory law enforcement officers who will be involved in the planning and supervision of sobriety checkpoints within West Virginia as part of the state’s strong participation in the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Region III Checkpoint Strikeforce program. The course presents training as to the need and purpose of checkpoints, the court decisions concerning such checkpoints, the steps to be taken prior to setup/operation of a checkpoint, the actual operation of a checkpoint and the proper prosecution, criminal and administrative, of DUI-related arrests stemming from a sobriety checkpoint.

Through the course the supervisory officer comes to understand their role in the impact and usage of a sobriety checkpoint of part of a comprehensive education/awareness and enforcement program to reduce the number of individuals who will drive impaired within the State of West Virginia. The training presented in this class will also ensure that sobriety checkpoints are continued to be operated within West Virginia in conjunction with the United States and West Virginia Supreme Court decisions so as to allow the continued use of this important tool and to insure that legal challenges stemming from their increased usage will not lead to a decision to stop their usage.
 

This class is designed for law enforcement officers within West Virginia who will be involved in the administrative hearing process for the review of a DMV revocation action as the Arresting Officer for a DUI-related charge from Chapter 17C-5-2 or applicable municipal DUI ordinance. Because of the nature of the administrative hearing process within West Virginia, law enforcement officers generally appear without legal representation and as such is responsible for seeing the “state’s case” involving his DUI-related arrest is properly and fully presented. This class will provide training to the officers as to the standards of evidence at such hearings, the statutory requirements DMV is required to follow to uphold DUI-related revocations, the format of such hearings, the presentation of testimony and cross examination at administrative hearings and techniques to minimize the impact of the defense attorney at such hearings. To make the officer feel more comfortable in the presentation of DUI-related cases, there will be a mock trial to familiarize him more directly with the conduct of an administrative hearing. The course will also seek to address misconceptions that are prevalent within the State concerning such hearings by causing the officer to become more informed about the administrative hearing process.
 

All Highway Safety training is certified for 8-hour law enforcement training credit non-supervisory in-service.
 

The aforementioned Highway Safety training will be scheduled periodically throughout the year in the various regions. Contact your regional community coordinator (Click HERE for Regional Map), J. D. Meadows or Dave Cook for information on training in your area or to schedule training for your agency.