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De-Escalation and Control Tactics Instructor

Course Hours: 80.0 Hours

Course Description

This course is designed to provide student-instructors the instructional knowledge and ability to teach a realistic approach to verbal, physical and mechanical de-escalation tactics, and provide their future students with essential skills for subject - officer encounters. 

Instructional topics include Legal Aspects of Force, Realistic De-Escalation Principles, Stand-up Striking, Control and Restraint Techniques, Active-Countermeasures to use in a violent encounter, Survival Ground Skills, Vehicle Extraction, and Vascular Neck Restraints, along with Edged Weapons Defense and Pistol Retention. 

Prerequisites

Prior to selection for the course, students must submit the following documentation to the course coordinator. Documents should be in Adobe PDF format.

  1. POST General Instructor certification or equivalent. 
  2. Certificate of completion of GPSTC 40-hour De-Escalation and Control Tactics course. Special Note: BJJ level 1 (or higher) certification will also be accepted.
  3. Medical Waiver (Download the form to complete here)
Continuing after the first day of the course is dependent on successful completion of a Physical Agility Test where the student will have to complete the course in 2:06 or less.  The test will be administered the morning of the first class day.  

The course measures a total of 870 feet (290 yards/265.2 meters). The course consists of a series of nine interspersed individual tasks, arranged in continuous format, that are viewed as being essential (physical) job-tasks for law enforcement training.  They include:

  1. Running
  2. Jumping (low hurdle)
  3. Climbing stairs
  4. Low crawl
  5. Jumping (broad-type)
  6. Climbing a fence (chain-link/four feet)
  7. Climbing through a window
  8. Moving/dragging a weight (150 pounds)
  9. Changing direction on the run

The course is outlined as follows:

  1. The LEO runs 1.75 laps around the perimeter of the course.
  2. The first obstacle encountered in the interior consists of 2 hurdles, 1.5 feet high and 4 feet long, placed 13 feet apart.
  3. After clearing the hurdles, stairs (5 steps up to a 32-inch wide landing, 45 inches above the floor, and 5 steps down) must be negotiated twice. (Note that each step has a 7.5 inch rise and tread that is 11 inches wide.)
  4. Once the stair event is completed, another low hurdle must be cleared.  The LEO must then successfully negotiate a low crawl under an obstacle set at 2.5 feet above the floor.
  5. After the low crawl, the LEO must make a turn and clear a ditch simulation that is 6 feet in width.
  6. After another turn, a chain-link fence (4 feet in height) must be climbed.
  7. Two additional turns must be made, and a 4-foot window (opening is 3' wide x 4.5' high) must be successfully entered.
  8. The LEO must then drag a 150-pound dead weight  a distance of 20 feet.
  9. After the weight drag, the candidate exits the course, completes 1 final lap around the perimeter, and finishes at the point indicated in red on the course floor. 
Penalties are assessed for the following violations:

+2 seconds for knocked down hurdles
+2 seconds for foot faults on "ditch simulation"
There must be 3 Physical attempts "through the window" and "over the fence" before LEO can run around.
If LEO skips stairs going down, they will be returned to the stair landing and repeat.

After all penalties are assessed, the final completion time must not exceed 2 minutes and 6 seconds.

Who Should Attend

This course should be attended by local, state, federal, or military law enforcement instructors prior to delivery of de-escalation and control tactics training.

Special Notes

Student must bring a water bottle, duty gear (minus weapons, except an expandable baton), handcuffs, handcuff keys, and personal protective equipment.

Students must successfully complete a physical fitness test evaluating muscle strength/endurance, cardiovascular performance, and anaerobic performance, which will be performed on Day One of the course, in order to proceed with the remainder of the course.

Contact the coordinator if there are any questions. 

Start Date End Date Location (Hover for more information) Time Course Number Status
05/05/2025 05/16/2025 GPSTC, FORSYTH 08:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m. LPAS25280 Closed
10/27/2025 11/07/2025 GPSTC, FORSYTH 08:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m. TBA Coming Soon