Colorado State Patrol Reaches Historic Achievement

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The Colorado State Patrol is the first law enforcement agency to have all active duty Peace Officer Standard Training (POST) certified officers earn the National Traffic Incident Management Training Certificate from the Responder Safety Learning Network.

This historic achievement was born of a troubling trend that significantly impacted the Colorado State Patrol. In the past five years, five Colorado State Patrol troopers were killed in the line of duty while performing duties outside their vehicles. Feeling the acute risk to roadway emergency responders, the Colorado State Patrol contracted with an external subject matter expert to conduct an unbiased assessment of the five line-of-duty deaths and ninety-six other struck-by incidents within the last five years.

This review resulted in a completed study and 19 recommended actions. In 2021, as the Colorado State Patrol addressed these recommendations, it formed an agency-wide task force to improve member awareness, education, procedures, and full organization focus related to contemporary Traffic Safety Management Operations (TSMO) and Traffic Incident Management (TIM) practices.

The task force’s work led to the implementation of a 3-tier TSMO strategy that is consistent with the NHTSA NextGenTIM framework. The strategy targets roles and responsibilities, continuous learning, and awareness. This effort focuses on Colorado State Patrol members with primary roadway safety responsibilities, middle level management, and executive leadership.

In March of 2021, 670 active duty Colorado State Patrol law enforcement officers, from the newest troopers up to the Chief of the Colorado State Patrol, Colonel Matthew C. Packard, set out to complete “10 in 10” and earn their National TIM Training Certificate. The National TIM Training Certificate is a 10-module, 10-hour training program covering comprehensive TIM practices and lessons learned, delivered through online remote learning on the Responder Safety Learning Network (RSLN.org), part of ResponderSafety.com.

As of December 8, 2021, all Colorado POST Board certified, sworn law enforcement officers at the Colorado State Patrol successfully attained their individual and collective goal, making the Colorado State Patrol the first law enforcement agency worldwide with all active peace officers completing the NTTC on the Responder Safety Learning Network.

This achievement is just the first step to improving the safety of the Colorado State Patrol members who respond to emergencies on our roadways. Looking forward to 2022, the Colorado State Patrol already has a formal program in place to sustain and support agency-wide adoption of TSMO and TIM practices through formal continuing education of current POST certified law enforcement officers, trooper academy cadets, as well as expanding the learning to include Colorado State Patrol Ports of Entry (POE) Officers and Emergency Communications Officers.

Through sustained learning, the Colorado State Patrol will continue to use the wide spectrum of training modules offered on the Responder Safety Learning Network and bring a consistent approach to safety as it continues to focus on its mission to save lives.