KERRY DUNN
Prairie Oaks Park Manager
This month, all Metro Parks’ commissioned ranger staff participated in Virtual Reality Scenario Training to receive required yearly CPT (continuing professional training) credits for the State of Ohio. The technology is a new approach for law enforcement, which helps officers to further develop “soft skills” such as communication and de-escalation techniques.
Once rangers put on the headsets, they are immersed into a virtual scenario that enhances their ability to observe and learn. They watched a series of five videos that focused on communication, crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques. Following the videos, a classroom debrief and discussion was held. Overall, nearly 70 ranger staff participated in the course. Rangers will continue with supplemental online course content through e-OPOTA to complete all of their required CPT credits. OPOTA (Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission) is currently developing additional curriculum for future VR training, which we hope to take advantage of in the near future.
MORE ABOUT RANGER TRAINING
Kevin Kasnyik, Resource Manager
Annually, the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission (OPOTC) makes recommendations to the Attorney General of Ohio regarding the type and amount of training required for peace officers appointed by a law enforcement agency. This training “curriculum” is referred to as Continued Professional Training (CPT). It includes a minimum 24 hours of training.
Eight hours are reserved for these mandatory topics: three hours for Use of Force, two hours for Ethics Law, two hours for Legal Updates, and one hour for Search and Seizure.
The remaining 16 hours cover various topics, including Officer Trauma and Wellness, Domestic Violence, Vehicle Dynamics, Report Writing, and Leadership.
All Metro Parks managers of park operations, park managers, assistant park managers, and full-time rangers are required to complete annual in-service training to meet these requirements. Whether someone in one of these positions is officially appointed by the Board of Park Commissioners as a peace officer or not, the Metro Parks standard is that everyone will complete in-service training as an annual requirement.
In order to fulfill state requirements while also providing training that is more relatable to our working environments, Metro Parks annually far exceeds the Commissions’ required 24 hours of training. In summary… we do a lot of annual training.
In 2025, Metro Parks’ additional full-time in-service training requirements covered these additional areas:
- Handcuffing Refresher
- Gracie Self Preservation Techniques (self-defense)
- Environmental Enforcement
- Scenario based Virtual Reality Training
You might be saying “This seems like a lot, how does it all get accomplished?”
The answer is simple… passionate, creative and dedicated employees who have the desire to get better themselves but also to provide others with the skills and abilities to succeed.
Every single work unit in our organization has at least one staff person who consistently helps with annual in-service training. Numerous staff go above and beyond to receive and reciprocate specialized training which gets applied to our annual full-time in-service requirements as well as part-time ranger in-service training, seasonal ranger training, field training for new full-time rangers, emergency response guideline and on-boarding ranger training, and on, and on, and on.
