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Dave Grossman and his violence-glorifying training re-emerge in the news after many police killings. But Grossman is just the tip of the for-profit training iceberg. It's a world hidden in plain sight and it's way bigger than you think. 
: https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1385292068029927426?s=20
: https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1385292068029927426?s=20
Over nearly 30 years, Grossman expanded his training from soldiers to cops to the general public. For example, Sheepdog Seminars go to churches across the country to preach a gospel of fear and violence. A flyer reads: "Let's Stop the Wolf." https://files.constantcontact.com/9ee25497601/f98e8b95-1acb-4a4d-b551-5b4ea27f722e.pdf
He also partners w/ ex-cops like Dave "Buck Savage" Smith. In the 80s, Smith starred in tongue-in-cheek training videos. Now, he speaks all over the country and produces survival-centric content for popular policing sites like PoliceOne. https://www.police1.com/columnists/dave-smith/
Grossman teams up with Savage's "Winning Mind" training for "Mindset Bootcamp." From a flyer: "Survival is just the beginning...train your mind to 'win!'" https://www.cjtc.wa.gov/docs/default-source/vendors/mindset-bootcamp-oct-2020.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=120fe018_2
And Grossman's got online training, too, accessible to anyone with an internet connection and some spare cash. "If you are in a war, you are a warrior. Is there a war on drugs? Is there a war on crime? Is there a war on terrorism?" https://www.grossmanacademy.com/preview-courses
But Grossman is one man. And unlike Grossman (who has never been in combat or been a police officer), current/ex-cops and active duty/retired soldiers run their own for-profit training companies for police and average Joes, alike.
Take Street Cop Training, founded by Dennis Benigno, a former NJ cop. Before retirement, he was accused of jumping on the hood of a car (3 Black, female occupants), drawing his gun, and threatening to shoot the driver. The town settled the case for $70k. https://newbrunswicktoday.com/2016/07/23/woodbridge-township-settles-false-arrest-lawsuit-for-70000/
1 popular course: "Street Academy - Survival tactics for Police Officers." From a course flyer: "We have forgotten that you will be killed when you treat this profession like it wonât happen. Weâre going to remind you." https://streetcoptraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Street-Academy-Web-Announcement.pdf
Others are hyper-focused on enforcement. Officers learn how to police to the absolute limit of the law to maximize arrests and seizures of drugs, guns, and cash. Success and enforcement are synonymous. http://iowanarcs.com/scriptcms/userfiles/Pro%20Active%20Patrol%20Announcement%20Holstein,%20IA%20Pro-1(1).pdf
As stated in one of their promo videos: "This is case law. Use it to your advantage. There's a whole 1200 page book here of things that you're allowed to legally do to improve your skills and beat these criminals."
This cop-as-crime-fighter goes hand in hand with what I've called the "danger imperative," the cultural preoccupation with violence and officer safety. When every interaction could be deadly, officers must always be ready to use violence themselves. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/lasr.12526
Street Cop's big conference is this October. Headliners include not only pro-cop, conservative darlings like Tomi Lahren, but ex-soldiers like Dakota Mayer and Marcus Luttrell (the real 'Lone Survivor' played by Mark Whalberg in the 2013 film).
Tim Kennedy, an Army Green Beret and former UFC fighter, is also slated to speak. Tim runs Sheepdog Response, which trains police, military, and the general public in firearms and physical combat, "empowering people to protect & preserve life." https://sheepdogresponse.com
In these classes, the stakes are life and death. The world is an infinitely dangerous place; the untrained will not only die, but fail to protect the innocent. From an LEO/Military course video: "It's either them or you. And you don't want it to be you."
From his civilian course: "We face threats of violence every day, ranging from large-scale terrorism to one-on-one assaults. Most people are unprepared, unequipped, and untrained to respond effectively. https://sheepdogresponse.com/collections/sheepdog-level-1
Obviously, all of this is for profit. These are private businesses. But what's talked about less are the INSTITUTIONAL incentives for these courses to be created and for police to attend them.
In a nutshell, states enable the market by allowing mandated yearly training to be fulfilled by for-profit trainers. One Street Cop Training seminar, for example, fulfills 16 hours of CLEET continuing education for OK officers https://www.ok.gov/cleet/documents/Street%20Cop%20Training.pdf
PoliceOne, acquired by Lexipol (a company that profits from standardizing police policies), offers approved training for most states. https://www.policeoneacademy.com/accreditation/
Just looking at my home state: TX officers can take no fewer than 9 survival/tactics courses through PoliceOne https://www.policeoneacademy.com/accreditation/texas-tcole/
Instructors like Grossman and their violence-centric training are also approved by states. In one department I spent time in, you can find Grossman's teachings in the OFFICIAL, state-mandated training docs. https://www.snchiefs.com/the-bulletproof-mind-mental-preparation-for-combat/
So what to do?
1. States should not approve these for-profit, survival-centric courses without careful review and oversight, if at all. It's hard enough to oversee state-approved academies--likely impossible to appropriately monitor all for-profit trainers for best practices.
1. States should not approve these for-profit, survival-centric courses without careful review and oversight, if at all. It's hard enough to oversee state-approved academies--likely impossible to appropriately monitor all for-profit trainers for best practices.
2. Even if not state-approved, the courses will exist. You likely can't keep cops from spending their own dime on their own time, but don't allow taxpayer dollars to be spent by departments to send officers to this kind of training.
3. In states where this kind of training can also count toward a college degree that helps officers get higher pay, get promoted...stop this practice. Remove the direct $ incentive for officers to spend hours hearing about and training for their gruesome, impending death.
These changes won't solve police violence. But they're low-hanging policy fruit that don't require wholesale structural change. States and departments can choose to not actively stoke the most dangerous parts of police culture.
Grossman is a symptom of a much broader system that encourages, rewards, and profits from police violence. Grossman and others make money because there is a demand for their training. This is the system working as intended. We must choose to unmake it.
