As you may have heard from other agencies, GUARDIAN RFID’s training methodology is unique, in a good way.
One example of this is our Pre-Training.
Pre-Training is a structured, collaborative meeting between your command staff, supervisors, and GUARDIAN RFID Academy Trainers. This gives everyone involved an opportunity to review your use of Command Cloud and aspects of policies and procedures that may be created, modified, or retired based on how you use our officer experience platform.
Pre-Training is an essential part of our training methodology and has been in place since 2009. However, it took years to refine our training methodology to what it is today.
It took 2,774 attempts to arrive at the bamboo filament that made Edison's lightbulb a commercial success. The Wright brothers built and tested three full-sized gliders as part of their development process, which they used to refine their designs before creating their first powered airplane.
Pre-Training is the byproduct of years of refined training attempts – and some painful lessons learned along the way.
In this blog, we’re going to discuss the Pre-Training meeting, its importance in our overall training methodology, and what you should expect when it comes to preparing for – and having your Pre-Training meeting.
The Genesis of the Pre-Training Meeting
As Henry Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."
The long and short of how Pre-Training came to be is the result of two things:
- A massive disconnect between jail leadership and its staff
- Our naivete at asking thorough policy questions before classroom training. Bear in mind, these lessons were learned back in 2008 – and it was something like our 20th deployment of GUARDIAN RFID overall.
Let’s just say the deputies were “disgruntled” at the surprise knowledge that not only had jail leadership chosen to deploy technology they were unaware of, but they also don’t know we, GUARDIAN RFID, were coming for training (surprise!)
The staff asked no less than 200 questions about why they were transitioning to GUARDIAN RFID and how it would impact their many existing policies and procedures. Some speculated they were going to lose their jobs if they started missing their digital rounds. Luckily, many of the deputies’ questions were fair – especially those that were focused on policy and procedure.
This four-hour training class was 17 years ago. And to this day, no training class ever required more effort to “damage control” than this one – even after thousands of classes proceeding this class from 2008.
What were the lessons learned?
- We couldn’t just assume that jail leadership communicated to its staff that training would take place on a certain date, time, and location. We couldn’t presuppose that the reasons for GUARDIAN RFID being chosen for deployment had been articulated – let alone thoroughly and well.
- We needed to permanently change how and when we obtained additional information from the jail regarding their use of GUARDIAN RFID – and what policies and procedures would be impacted – and when.
- We needed a scheduled, collaborative session before on-site training occurred so that training didn’t just focus on how to use GUARDIAN RFID from a product standpoint. It needed to focus on policies: what policies would be modified, retired, or established – and not in the moment with trainers standing in front of dozens of users while under duress – but weeks or months in advance of formal classroom instruction so that good quality decisions could be made efficiently.
This one disastrous class resulted in Pre-Training.
And as Ben Franklin said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
Preparing for Pre-Training
Our Academy Team will coordinate with your Project Managers to schedule Pre-Training, which includes the meeting agenda and specific policy questions we’ll want to discuss in advance of classroom training.
Pre-Training generally takes place anywhere from 3-8 weeks before on-site training. From an internal perspective, it’s ideal to communicate to your staff what you’re deploying and why, and how you envision Command Cloud positively impacting your operations via the modules and applications you intend to use.
We would also recommend the following tips:
- Identify power-users early: These are users that are technologically adept. They can connect the software they’re about to use to the policies and procedures that are in place – and how you can maximize your use of the system to full effect. Put differently, these are innovative users. They may not carry rank or title, but they can see around corners better than anyone.
- Brief all supervisors about Command Cloud: Explain what it is, why you’re deploying it, and how you’ll be using it.
- Have a combination of your staff present: Including your administrative staff, command staff, supervisors, and power-users will give you more voices and perspectives when considering how to best take advantage of the full might of Command Cloud.
With that said, you need one quarterback responsible for saying Yes or No. Otherwise, you run the risk of having too many voices, and too little action.
For jails with an average daily population under 250 inmates, Pre-Training is typically coordinated via remote meeting, such as Zoom, unless geographically, our training team is already in the vicinity of your facility.
If your facility’s daily count is greater than 250 inmates, but under 500 inmates, Pre-Training may be done in-person at the discretion of Academy, or in consultation with our Implementation and Academy teams.
A Virtual Pre-Training Meeting
Your virtual Pre-Training meeting will generally not exceed two hours and in most cases, policy questions will have been provided at least two weeks in advance of the meeting.
If you’re not certain of what best practices may work in your facility, 100% of our Academy training team has worked in correctional facilities that also used GUARDIAN RFID. So, your Academy trainer will likely provide recommendations based on their direct experience with GUARDIAN RFID – or with the jails and prisons they’ve previously trained.
And if necessary, our Academy team can pull in our JailOps team, which is also comprised 100% of team members who worked in jails and prisons using GUARDIAN RFID as well.
The Pre-Training meeting will also reiterate our classroom training methodology, Go-Live, and modules and applications you fully intend to use Day One.
On-Site Pre-Training Meeting
For jails and prisons over 500 inmates, Pre-Training is almost always coordinated in-person with a member of our JailOps team, which will own your account relationship following Go-Live. This will enable both our Academy and JailOps team members to walk the facility, learn your systems and vernacular, understand the layout, and clarify learning and use case objectives.
Both Academy and JailOps team members will coordinate a detailed review of your policies and procedures that may be updated, retired, or created based on your feedback.
Common Policies Reviewed During Pre-Training
Here are some of the most common policy and procedure questions asked by staff that you’ll want to consider:
Will there be continued use of our existing systems and tools?
This question commonly refers to items such as:
- Manual entry into your jail management system
- Logbooks and check sheets for suicide checks
- Guard tour systems
With almost no exceptions, manual entry into your JMS no longer needs to occur for custody operations, such as logging inmate activities, movements, and observations. And if you’re deploying a two-way interface with Command Cloud and your JMS, these activities will sync to your JMS.
Your logbooks and check sheets should stop immediately, and only be kept by supervisors in the event of a catastrophic failure, like a force majeure event. And even then, remember: Mobile Command XR functions offline. So, if you’ve lost Internet and power, Mobile Command XR will enable you to capture data without interruption.
How do we handle late round justification?
It is highly recommended that officers capture a justification for any late check in the moment – we believe that this is not something that an officer should come back to at the end of a shift.
Most jail inspectors do not expect every check to be late. They’ll show some grace if you’re a minute or two late and you’ve substantiated the reason for a late check. They’ll rightfully come down on an incident where you’re 30 minutes late without a justification.
How do we log Restraint System uses?
Command Cloud is adept at logging and building reports around incidents that require use of restraints, such as emergency restraint devices (ERDs). In fact, in Mobile Command XR, you can use a pre-built ERD module to log observation checks on inmates placed in the ERD.
How do we log Suicide Watch/Behavior Watch checks?
This one is simple, but important. One of the most universal cases of Mobile Command XR is logging suicide checks and behavior watch checks. If you’re using a paper check sheet or a logbook, your Academy trainer will recommend that this practice stops upon Go-Live.
Should we use the Digital Evidence capabilities of Mobile Command XR?
If you’re a jail or a prison, we highly recommend using the ability to capture images and videos across a variety of use cases:
- Observation checks
- Inmate refusals
- Cell shakedowns
- Cell extractions
- Recreation
- Meals and medication refusal (for certain inmates)
- Medical refusals
We would also recommend that only supervisors and command staff have access to your Media Dashboard to view all digital evidence.
Do we need to create an Electronic Documentation Policy?
Normally, most mid-size to large agencies (and some smaller ones that are operationally sound) have separate policies for each activity, including recreation, meals, observation checks, security rounds, razor passes, programs attendance, and so much more.
How do we log inmate movements, including out-for-hour?
Similar to observation checks, logging inmate movements is a common use case of Command Cloud. And in some circumstances, logging movements, including out-for-hour time, may be mandated if your facility is under a Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree.
How will we use Headcounts in Command Cloud?
We would recommend using Command Cloud to automate both your formal and informal headcounts at whatever preset times your facility has today. For example, if you’re conducting formal headcounts at shift change, this is a commonly used module in Command Cloud. If you conduct informal counts throughout the day, such as at mealtimes, Command Cloud already supports this, too.
The alternative would likely involve manually entering this information into your jail management system, which may lack the advanced authentication features of Command Cloud—such as the ability to incorporate RFID, for example. And by using your JMS for clearing headcounts, you’re likely going to continue relying on radio traffic to clear counts. With Command Cloud, you can reduce or eliminate radio traffic since headcounts are fully automated.
Pre-Training enables your command staff, supervisors, and GUARDIAN RFID team members to fully align on your use of Command Cloud with thoughtful, well-built policies designed to reflect the way you intend to use Command Cloud well before our Academy trainers come on-site. This optimizes the experience for everyone.
To quote Brene Brown: “To be clear is to be kind.” By informing your staff well in advance of the decision to deploy Command Cloud, how you’ll be using it, how you’ll be measuring its effectiveness, and what policies will be impacted – and how – your transparency will build trust and confidence, and ultimately, result in a more effective deployment.
