Category Archives: Betsy Brantner Smith

Police Morale For Supervisors

Presented by: Officer Mike Wasilewski, MSW & Althea Olson, LCSW

Poor employee morale is a serious problem facing law enforcement and one that, if not confronted and corrected, will threaten the mission, productivity, discipline, and even the integrity of a police agency. With stakes so high, it is only natural law enforcement managers make raising employee morale a top priority.

Or is it?

The reality is, many police managers refuse to acknowledge the issues or, if they do, adhere to the belief, “Low morale isn’t our problem! They can fix it themselves,” while perpetuating the culture that breeds it. For most cops, low morale has far less to do with what they see and experience on the street than the impact of politics, policies, and practices inside the station.

This training is for supervisors and managers who want to bring the “best cop” out of each officer, who understand the power and productivity of happy staff, and who want to do more than pay lip service to the heavy responsibility of effective leadership.


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Sergeant Betsy Brantner Smith (ret.)

Betsy Smith

Betsy Smith

Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith retired in 2009 as a 29-year veteran of the Naperville, IL Police Department. Beginning her career as a police dispatcher at age 17, Betsy became a police officer four years later and has held positions in patrol, investigations, narcotics, juvenile, hostage negotiation, crime prevention and field training.  She received her four year degree from Western Illinois University in 1991, and was a class officer and graduate of the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety’s School of Staff and Command in May of 2001.

As a sergeant, she supervised her department’s K-9 Unit, served as a field training sergeant, recruitment team sergeant, bike patrol coordinator, Crowd Control Bike Team leader, and supervisor of the Community Education/Crime Prevention Unit. Betsy served on the Elderly Services Team, the Crisis Intervention Team, and was a proud founding supervisory member of NPD’s Honor Guard Unit.

From 1999 – 2003 Betsy hosted various programs and was a content expert for the Law Enforcement Television Network (LETN), is currently an on-air commentator and advisor for the Police One Academy and was a featured character in the Biography Channel’s “Female Forces” reality show. Betsy also serves on the Board of Directors for Safe Call Now, an organization dedicated to providing confidential support resources to first responders.

She has been a law enforcement trainer for over 20 years and was a content expert and senior instructor for the Calibre Press “Street Survival” seminar from 2003 through 2012.  Betsy is a popular keynote speaker at conferences and events throughout the United States, Canada and around the world. Since 1995, Betsy has authored hundreds of articles for law enforcement, government and civilian publications including Police Marksman, Law and Order, Police Chief, Law Officer, PoliceLink.com and LawOfficer.com. She served on the advisory board of Police Marksman magazine and is currently a featured columnist on both PoliceOne.com and Officer.Com.

Betsy is the creator of the only course of its kind for women in law enforcement, “The Winning Mind for Women” and is the owner of Dave Smith & Associates’ Winning Mind LLC. Together, Betsy and Dave develop and instruct cutting edge courses through Winning Mind Seminars and travel extensively, bringing their inspirational messages throughout the world. Betsy can be reached through www.pg-ti.com or through her website at www.femaleforces.com and you can follow her on Twitter as @SgtBetsySmith.

Courses:

The Winning Mind© for Women

The Winning Mind for Women Unleashed

“The Love/Hate Relationship Between Cops and Dispatchers” Improving the Dispatcher/First Responder Roles in Public Safety Organizations
Career & Officer Survival for Dispatchers

Men & Women Are Different, But They Can All Be Great Cops!

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Career & Officer Survival For Dispatchers

 

 

Career & Officer Survival for Dispatchers

 The Dispatchers Guide to Officer Safety & Survival

 from the Other End of the Radio

 

Cops and dispatchers are trying to do essentially the same job from two very different locations and perspectives; we often have separate rules, dissimilar shifts, and frankly, neither one of us truly understands the other, but we’re all trying to serve our community and keep it, and ourselves, safe.  This one-of-a-kind interactive, multi-media training course will give public safety and private security dispatchers the opportunity to truly see, hear and feel what is happening on the street and learn how their actions, instincts and expertise can play a vital role in police officer safety and survival.  We’ll help you understand “cop-speak” and learn how to “expect the unexpected,” all while learning to survive and thrive in the unique communication center atmosphere. This course will also help dispatchers learn to improve their own careers and enhance job satisfaction with proven methods they can utilize immediately.

This course will provide insight on:

  • Helping dispatchers understand officer survival tactics on and off the street
  • Understanding the unique stressors dispatcher face on every tour of duty
  • Applying “Warrior Ethos” to the dispatch function
  • Why “survival” is minimalistic and we must train to WIN!
  • Bringing the “Not Today!”© mindset into the communications center
  • Defining respectful and “tactical” communication techniques
  • Bringing dispatchers and officers together before, during and after a critical incident, and during day-to-day operations
  • How you and your personnel can communicate effectively within your organization…really
  • Helping personnel develop successful leadership skills, regardless of rank or assignment
  • Why dispatchers need to think about their own safety, both on and off duty
  • Helping employees avoid the victim-based mentality that can develop in a high-stress environment and learn to become a true optimist

Over 170 police officers are killed in the line of duty each year; sixty thousand are assaulted, and over sixteen thousand suffer injuries.  A dispatcher can be a police officer’s life-line in a dangerous encounter.  This training will give even the most seasoned dispatcher new insight into their impact on a patrol officer’s daily mission as well as their survival, and will help individual students regain the enthusiasm for their chosen career in public safety.

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