Missouri 2023 Lesson Summaries

This is an online interpersonal perspectives course designed to assist students in handling persons with mental illness. The lesson explores why the issue of mental illness is important to the law enforcement community, by examining the prevalence of mental illness in the United States population and specific encounters between persons with mental disorders and law enforcement officers. The lesson examines the symptoms of various mental disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, and personality disorders. The lesson provides detailed tips for recognizing a person with mental illness and guidelines for interacting with or handling persons with mental illness. Finally, the lesson explains Missouri’s involuntary detention procedures.

This is an online legal studies course. The lesson addresses recent court decisions providing guidance to law enforcement officers regarding: when a suspect will lose Fourth Amendment protection in property because he/she has “abandoned” it; when an officer questioning a suspect who is vomiting in a patrol car will be considered to have conducted a custodial interrogation; whether an officer who impersonates a deceased person to receive texts from the person’s drug supplier violates the federal Wiretap Act; and whether law enforcement officials may prolong a lawful detention to check an individual’s immigration status.

This is an online technical skills course. Section one explains the basic requirements under the Vienna Convention for Consular Relations (VCCR) that apply to law enforcement officers who arrest or detain foreign nationals. It defines critical terms necessary to understand an officer’s responsibility toward arrested or detained foreign nationals.

Section two explains the procedures officers must follow when they arrest or detain a foreign national. It explains the difference between mandatory and non-mandatory notification countries. This section also outlines applicable requirements when for when a foreign national dies, becomes seriously injured or ill, or faces the possibility of having a guardian or trustee appointed for him/her. This section explains the right of consular access.

Section three addresses additional information regarding: a) detentions and other situations triggering the VCCR requirements; b) determining who is a foreign national; c) who has responsibility for making required notifications; and d) notification requirements.

This online interpersonal perspective lesson addresses state and federal prohibitions against sexual harassment. It defines what conduct constitutes sexual harassment and identifies the elements of a sexual harassment complaint. The lesson explores the role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Missouri Commission on Human Rights in sexual harassment cases. The lesson defines retaliation and provides examples of retaliatory conduct. The lesson explains when an employer may be held liable for sexual harassment committed by an employee and what an employer can do to avoid or limit liability. The lesson explains where and how to file a sexual harassment complaint and what damages may be available for victims of harassment. The lesson provides tips for what individuals who experience or witness sexual harassment can do. The lesson includes numerous, interactive questions based on actual sexual harassment cases filed with the EEOC.

This is an online technical skills course. This lesson focuses on crowd control techniques for law enforcement officers. It explains the First Amendment rights that officers must consider when managing a crowd or demonstration. It then discusses proper planning and information gathering options before a demonstration begins. The lesson further describes specific recommendations for officer actions after a planned or spontaneous demonstration gathers. Finally, the lesson discusses use of force recommendations and other steps officers can take when arrests or dispersal of a crowd is required.

This is an online legal studies course. The lesson addresses recent court decisions providing guidance to law enforcement officers regarding: the requirements of Missouri’s Implied Consent law and its regulations, including whether an officer can bypass the Implied Consent law entirely and proceed to obtaining a search warrant for a blood draw; the ability of officers to extend a traffic stop to briefly investigate additional criminal activity for which the officer has developed reasonable suspicion during the course of the stop; when an officer has a duty to provide prompt medical assistance to individuals in their “custody” under the Fourteenth Amendment, and what actions by law enforcement or their agents will constitute entrapment.

This is an online technical skills course. This lesson gives a brief overview of the history and law surrounding involuntary confessions, describes the three types of false confessions and the motivations for each, explains how false confessions cause failures in many aspects of the criminal justice system, summarizes several major systems for conducting interviews and interrogations and explains the concerns with some of them, describes processes of suggestibility that occur in the general population such as “gap-filling” and memory conformity, lists characteristics of populations especially vulnerable to suggestion and provides guidance on questioning individuals with these characteristics, explains why self-regulation is required to resist acquiescing to an officer’s demand to confess, lists three circumstances that greatly reduce a suspect’s ability to self-regulate, describes how the use of false evidence can lead to false confessions and gives other reasons why officers should be cautious about using it during interrogations, describes ways that a false confession can negatively affect many areas of evidence gathering in a case, and provides best practices to obtain the maximum amount of accurate information from witnesses and suspects, including avoiding specific types of suggestive questioning, withholding evidence during an interrogation, and being aware of circumstances that are characteristic of the manner in which proven false confessions have been obtained.

This is an online technical skills course. This lesson focuses on opioid safety for law enforcement officers. It provides an overview of opioids and their effect on the human body. It explains the risks officers may face when responding to an opioid overdose and describes how officers can protect themselves and others. The lesson further describes the signs of an overdose and how to respond when an overdose is suspected. Finally, the lesson discusses some Missouri laws that have been enacted specifically to combat opioid overdose.

This is an online legal studies course. The lesson addresses recent court decisions providing guidance to law enforcement officers regarding: under what circumstances and for what purposes officers may rely on the numerical value of the result of a preliminary breath test, whether the Fourth Amendment allows warrantless searches of sealed compartments and containers found within abandoned property, whether the exclusionary rule will be imposed on evidence obtained from an arrest conducted in good faith but which actually lacked probable cause or a valid warrant due to clerical errors, and the legal requirements imposed on officers by the Implied Consent law when a driver has requested to speak with an attorney.

This is an online legal studies course. The lesson addresses 2023 amendments to the Missouri Revised Statutes. Section one examines amendments regarding the law enforcement profession, including increased penalties for doxing a law enforcement officer or family members, allowing a worker’s compensation claim for PTSD, providing peer counseling programs, offering vaccinations against diseases to which officers may be exposed when responding to a bioterrorism event, increasing the minimum required number of hours of basic training for POST certification, providing a reimbursement for the cost of basic training tuition, requiring police chiefs to take a special training course, clarifying and expanding the conduct that can result in discipline of a licensed peace officer, and changes to law enforcement funding, benefits, and certain residency requirements.

Section two examines changes in the drug laws, including prohibitions against drug masking products, legalizing products that test for the presence of fentanyl, allowing qualified first responders to stock and administer new FDA-approved drugs or devices that block the effects of an opioid overdose, background checks for those involved in marijuana facilities, and repealing industrial hemp statutes.

Section three examines amendments that help protect minors and crime victims, including requiring those with custody of a minor to report the minor missing within two hours of such a determination, requiring law enforcement to immediately submit identifying information of a missing minor to NCMEC and institute a proper investigation, requiring disclosure of certain otherwise confidential information about minors to law enforcement, requiring background checks on adults who attend K-12 classes that include K-12 students, requiring judges to consider certain factors before setting bail or conditions of release, and allowing law enforcement agencies to close records relating to investigative techniques, tip lines, and suspicious activity reports.

Section four examines changes to general criminal offenses, including stealing or damaging an ATM or its contents, stealing delivered but unreceived packages, doxing judicial officers, intending to kill an unknown person or class of persons but killing someone else, interfering with the transportation of livestock, and using electronic devices while operating a vehicle.

Section five examines miscellaneous amendments relevant to law enforcement, including law enforcement’s new duty and ability to help proactively identify those driving without automobile insurance, the calculation of jail time credit, additional requirements surrounding the evaluation, report, release, and treatment of a defendant who may have a mental disease or defect, and removal of the six-year time limit for updating background checks by reporting new arrests of those under the authority of an entity enrolled in the state or federal Rap Back program.

This is an online interpersonal perspectives course on racial profiling/biased policing designed to promote fair, impartial, and unbiased policing practices, understanding and respect for racial and cultural differences, and the use of effective, non-combative methods for carrying out law enforcement duties in a racially and culturally diverse environment. This lesson defines racial profiling, examines the importance of training on this topic, and explains how it violates the United States Constitution. The lesson summarizes and explains the latest federal guidelines on using listed characteristics, including race, in police work; and the lesson explains when these guidelines are binding on Missouri officers. The lesson examines the most recent Attorney General Vehicle Stops Report, summarizes its findings, and explains how individual law enforcement agencies can use the Report to combat racial profiling. The lesson gives examples of best practices to effectively reduce racial profiling and improve community relations.

This is an online legal studies course. The lesson addresses recent court decisions providing guidance to law enforcement officers regarding: when police may lawfully use evidence obtained during a search by an electronic service provider; when private citizens or private companies will be considered government agents subject to the requirements of the Fourth Amendment; what circumstances will provide reasonable suspicion to stop a person for a license plate violation; what officers need to know about dealer plates; when does the border search exception to the warrant requirement permit law enforcement officers to seize and search electronic devices; when involving federal law enforcement officer in an investigation may permit a warrantless border search that would otherwise not be an option for local law enforcement officers; when officers may seize a person in a hospital who is agitatedly refusing life-saving medical treatment.

This is an online legal studies course. The lesson addresses recent court decisions providing guidance to law enforcement officers regarding: the amount of evidence an officer needs in order to establish probable cause or arguable probable cause to make a stop of a suspect; whether officers need any level of suspicion, including reasonable suspicion, to search a probationer’s residence pursuant to a condition of probation; whether reasonable suspicion is established when a motor vehicle’s license plate shows it being registered to vehicle of the same make and model but a different color than the vehicle to which it is attached; the source and scope of Missouri law enforcement officers’ power to make arrests, including the powers under the common law, general constitutional restrictions, and specific statutes granting different powers of arrest for differently commissioned and certified officers, different jurisdictions, and different situations.

This is an online technical studies course addressing treatment courts, prosecution diversion programs, and the fentanyl epidemic. The lesson explains the reasons treatment courts were created and describes their success. The lesson provides guidance to officers regarding their responsibilities and opportunities as those having earliest involvement and greatest familiarity with those individuals who might be good candidates for treatment court. The lesson explains officers’ ongoing responsibilities to the case before and during transfer to treatment court, including considerations and pitfalls in retaining access to participants’ health and treatment records, preserving their cases in the event the participant’s case returns to criminal court, and keeping the treatment court team informed of the participant’s progress or lack thereof. The lesson explains the difference between treatment courts and prosecution diversion programs, describes the procedures and elements of a diversion program and officers’ roles in these programs, and highlights opportunities officers have for assisting prosecutors in determining which cases are good candidates for diversion. The lesson also describes the current fentanyl epidemic, describes the forms and lethality of the drug, and explains precautions officers should take when encountering a scene where the drug may be present.

This is an online interpersonal perspectives course. This lesson focuses on law enforcement officer mental health awareness. It provides perspectives about how the stress and trauma officers experience on the job can affect them and about how they can preserve their wellbeing. It explains common physical and psychological responses to stress and critical incidents. The lesson further describes the symptoms of PTSD and depression, as well as signs that an officer may be contemplating suicide. Finally, the lesson provides proactive suggestions for building and maintaining officer resilience and wellbeing, before, during, and after critical incidents with a focus on mental health awareness.

This is an online legal studies course. The lesson addresses recent court decisions providing guidance to law enforcement officers regarding: circumstances that give rise to an officer’s duty to intervene to prevent an excessive use of force by other officers, whether the duty to intervene applies to prevent violations of other constitutional rights, the nature and scope of inventory searches, statutory requirements for an officer to have a vehicle towed, circumstances that allow an officer to seize a suspect’s cell phone without a warrant, whether a warrant is required to search the contents of a lawfully seized cell phone, whether those on parole have the same rights and liberties as those not on parole, the level of proof needed to establish that a parolee resides at the home of a third party before officers may conduct searches of that third party’s home without a warrant and without probable cause, the effects of the federal district court decision that declares the entire Second Amendment Preservation Act unconstitutional, whether officers may be sued under 42 United States Code section 1983 for violating police department policy, and sex offender registration requirements.

This is an online interpersonal perspectives course addressing de-escalation. The lesson explains the reasons for using de-escalation techniques in police work, including increasing officer safety, building community trust, and saving lives. The lesson discusses how officers can assess the scene to determine whether to use de-escalation techniques and, if so, what techniques to use. The lesson describes the fight or flight response, how officers can recognize it in others and themselves, and how to curtail it in others and themselves. The lesson teaches verbal de-escalation techniques such as having a proper initial contact, active listening, effective use of questions, effective use of statements, controlling the conversation, and avoiding triggers. The lesson teaches physical de-escalation techniques such as controlling the scene and the pace of the encounter, physical positioning of officers in relation to the subject of the encounter, and disciplined body language. Finally, the lesson explains how to bring an encounter to a peaceful ending. The lesson uses case studies from actual events to illustrate these concepts.

This is an online legal studies course. The lesson addresses recent court decisions providing guidance to law enforcement officers regarding: whether arrests based on “Wanteds” violate the Fourth Amendment, the type of facts and circumstances that justify a law enforcement officer’s warrantless entry of a home, under what circumstances a fleeing suspect commits the crime of resisting arrest, whether an arrest that violates state law necessarily violates the Fourth Amendment and the possible consequences of making such an arrest, the circumstances that allow officers acting without a warrant to place a tracker on a vehicle which they know will be driven by a suspect and to monitor the location of that vehicle.

This is an online interpersonal perspectives course addressing ethics in law enforcement. The lesson explains the importance of ethical behavior in policing, presents a model code of ethics, sets out practical benefits from having high standards, exposes the Code of Silence, and warns of the slippery slope of engaging in progressively worse conduct. It defines and discusses ethical breaches such as accepting bribes, behaving in an unprofessional manner, and committing crimes of moral turpitude. It explains the importance of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety. The lesson sets out the rights of Missouri law enforcement officers during a disciplinary proceeding, including Garrity Rights and statutory rights. It discusses the importance of fair treatment for all, including avoiding sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination, and the effect that implicit bias can have in policing. It illustrates ways in which officers have deviated from high ethical standards through case studies taken from actual, recent disciplinary proceedings.

This lesson also includes a note on Amendment 3, legalizing recreational marijuana, which Missouri voters passed in November. It summarizes the parts of the constitutional changes that are most relevant and important to law enforcement officers.

This technical studies course addresses Sexual Assault Investigations. Section One examines how common sexual assaults are in the United States. Section Two examines the dynamics of sexual assault cases. It addresses myths about sexual assault, harms caused by sexual assault, and how sexual assault often differs from other crimes. Section Three examines the impact of the trauma of a sexual assault on the victim. It explains how the brain responds to threats, the “freezing” response, dissociation, and trauma’s effect on attention and memory. Section Four examines important guidelines for interviewing victims of sexual assault. It addresses: 1) the victim’s immediate priorities; 2) rapport building; 3) support persons; 4) recognizing trauma; 5) polygraphs; 6) providing information on medical treatment and forensic examinations; 7) not pressuring victims; and 8) interview questions. Section Five examines the elements of sexual offenses under Missouri law.