ITOA Rapid Deployment Instructor Course

THIS COURSE IS PENDING GRANT APPROVAL 

Registration Deadline: February 23, 2026

This course has been approved by ILETSB for the following mandates:
Constitutional Use of LE Authority - .5
Procedural Justice – 7.5
De-escalation Techniques – 15/scenario-based – 10
Law concerning stops, searches, and the use of force - .5
Officer safety techniques, including cover, concealment, and time – 13/scenario-based 7

PURPOSE OF COURSE: 
This five-day, 40-hour Instructor course has been designed to train officers as instructors to teach Rapid Deployment/Immediate Action tactics. The focus of this program will be to provide officers with knowledge, specialized tactical skills, and associated printed materials they will need to develop, implement, and teach Rapid Deployment/Immediate Action.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: 
Rapid Deployment/Immediate Action is the swift and immediate deployment of law enforcement resources to an ongoing, life-threatening "Active Shooter" type of situation. These situations require immediate action and the rapid deployment of patrol officers. Failure to act could have catastrophic consequences resulting in death and/or great bodily harm to innocent people. These incidents may also necessitate the immediate and rapid deployment of patrol personnel to contain and prevent the escape of an armed and dangerous offender or rescue a downed officer and/or civilian. Topics to be addressed include:

•    To learn formation, room clearing
•    Conventional barricade hostage tactics
•    Integrated tactics: first responders, contact, and rescue teams
•    Use of force and safety priorities
•    Equipment and identification requirements
•    Explosive devices
•    Integration of multiple agency responses
•    Verbal skills
•    Deployment and firearms handling

COURSE GOALS: 
     The goals of this course are as follows:

•    To provide a detailed explanation of conventional police tactics for managing barricade/hostage situations
•    To review a study of the dramatic increase in the number of workplace and school shooting incidents, including a detailed debrief of the Columbine High School incident, as well as several other police incidents where Rapid Deployment tactics may have been applicable.
•    To provide students with an understanding of why Rapid Deployment/Immediate Action techniques were developed and the need for them to be integrated into the tactics available for law enforcement
•    To assist participants in developing an awareness of the critical elements that constitute an active shooter and when the use of Rapid Deployment/Immediate Action tactics are appropriate and necessary
•    To provide students with an understanding of what should be accomplished by initial responding officers and what the components and responsibilities of the "contact" and/or "rescue" team are
•    To identify and discuss use-of-force and safety priority issues related to Rapid Deployment/Immediate Action incidents, including immediate defense of life, law,
police, & procedure, and established safety priorities.
•    To provide students with an inventory of appropriate equipment to be used when conducting these types of operations, including issues related to weapon and ammunition selection and uniform/identification requirements
•    To assist participants in demonstrating practical knowledge and ability in team formation/movement (Contact & Rescue teams), room clearing, verbalization skills, firearms handling/deployment skills, and actions upon contact
•    To provide students with a basic understanding of the different types of improved explosive devices and actions to be taken upon encountering   them
•    To provide students with a basic understanding of instructor responsibilities, techniques and strategies.
•    To allow students the opportunity to participate in instructor training and demonstrate their ability to conduct both platform and tactical instruction.

COURSE PREREQUISITES:    
While not mandatory, it is suggested that departments enroll officers in this program that have previous instructor and/or tactical-related experience. It is also very helpful if the students have completed a basic level Rapid Deployment Course. This is a dynamic, fast-paced course geared towards officers who already have a basic knowledge of firearms handling/deployment and patrol tactics.

Only personnel who are currently employed by a unit of local government in a sworn or civilian capacity will be permitted to attend this program. Only the Chief, Sheriff, or Public Safety Director of the agency requesting this training - or his/her designated representative - may enroll student officers. Officers will NOT be allowed to enroll themselves.

METHODS OF EVALUATION: 
Students will be required to demonstrate knowledge of all course materials. Students will be evaluated by written test, participation in practical exercises, reality-based training scenarios, as well as both classroom and tactical student teaching demonstrations. Additionally, the instructor will evaluate students' comprehension and retention of course topics based on their participation in practical exercises/scenarios and discussions conducted during the course. Evaluation forms completed by each student will provide feedback to NITAB on the quality of the course content and the instructor's effectiveness in delivering this content.

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION: 
This course will be conducted utilizing the following methods of instruction:
•    In-class lecture
•    In-class general discussion
•    Power Point presentation utilizing a multi-media   projector
•    Practical exercises in the field
•    Participation in reality-based training scenarios
•    Operations, observations and discussions

THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC MEETING