Lakeland Police Chief addresses concerns about controversial police training program

Lakeland street cop training

Lakeland’s police chief is addressing concerns about a controversial police training program the department will be hosting in a few months. FOX 13's Carla Bayron reports.

LAKELAND, Fla. - Lakeland's Police Chief is addressing concerns about a controversial police training program they'll be hosting in a couple of months.

The backstory:

It's called "Street Cop Training" and it has been banned in several states.

During the city's commission meeting on Monday, the Lakeland Police Department discussed their hiring and training efforts. Currently, they have 278 sworn officers and their goal is 300. They average 30 hires a year and lose around 15 officers a year to attrition.

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"I would say our morale and retention is very good. We don't lose a lot of officers to a lot of agencies," Capt. Ron Bowling.

Commissioner Stephanie Madden asked Chief Sammy Taylor about "Street Cop Training" that his department will be hosting at their training academy this August.

The program is held by a retired police officer from New Jersey who moved to Florida.

Dig deeper:

Chief Taylor says the class teaches case law and de-escalation skills, though a 2021 New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller report found the training taught "unconstitutional police tactics" and "glorified violence," among other things.

Nine states have banned the program.

"The nine states they're talking about are New York, New Jersey, California, Oregon, states along those lines so I'll let people draw their own conclusions about the type of training that goes on in those states versus the type that goes on down here," said Taylor.

Pictured: Chief Sammy Taylor

Taylor adds that more than 2,700 government agencies from nearly every state have sent members to the training, including from his own department. However, none of his officers are currently signed up for the class so far this year.

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The police department has received criticism for its use of force in the past. Back in 2022, Lakeland resident, Antwan Glover, was arrested during a traffic stop. Cell phone video captured officers punching and tasing him. Glover's charges were eventually dropped.

The chief adds they'll reassess participating in the Street Cop Training program if new information comes out that doesn't align with their best practices.

What they're saying:

"At the end of the day, if there's something the officers report to me if it's not useful or appropriate then we'll make another assessment," said Taylor. "I spoke to the officers who went last year, and they didn't express any reserves or concerns."

Funding for the program comes from investigative costs and not from the city's general fund.

Terry Coney, President of the Lakeland branch of the NAACP, sent FOX 13 a statement saying in part:"...I'm all for De-escalation training. Our officers can't get enough of that training. Hopefully the program has been refined since 2021..."

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