NCJ Number
132694
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 39 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1991) Pages: 24-28
Date Published
1991
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes the curriculum of the Bondurant Law Enforcement Driving Academy, founded in 1968, which teaches driving proficiency and instruction to officers from departments throughout the Nation.
Abstract
The article focuses primarily on the 3-day police instructor course. The first day begins with a short ground school which covers the basics of body and hand positioning. The remainder of the first day, which included evening practices, focuses on braking, maneuvering through turns and corners, and driving strategy in hot pursuits. The classes begin in mid-afternoon and extend into the evening to provide for both daylight and nighttime driving exercises. The second day begins with an autocross, which is a handling course with both tight and wide, left and right hand turns and short straights. Another exercise tests the officers' ability to drive in extremely tight quarters, so as to force drivers to develop an awareness of both the car's wheelbase dimensions and overall dimensions. The last exercise of day two is the open road course. This course requires officers to use in combination all the driving skills learned in previous exercises. In day three, the students become the instructors as every exercise performed in the previous 2 days is taught by the officers to the Bondurant instructors.