SKIDCAR News - Summer/Fall 2011, Alaska

Anchorage Police Department Instructor Training: Anchorage, ALASKA

The trip to Anchorage for instructor training proved to be very different than we initially thought. The Ford Crown Victoria that was available from the Alaska Police Standards Council proved to be in need of repair. Therefore, the Ford Expedition SKIDCAR that had not been assembled since it was purchased was brought into use. This change in equipment allowed us to expose the Anchorage PD instructors to Electronic Stability Control and the driving strategies needed to efficiently use this incredible safety system.

In our five year history of training with ESC and hundreds of Law Enforcement instructors being exposed to the workings of this driver safety technology, our experience has been that the instructors immediately tried to drive around or through the system. The basic working knowledge of how the ESC system worked to maintain control of the vehicle despite driver mistakes is commonly unknown in Law Enforcement. We were therefore able to instruct and promote to the Anchorage instructors an understanding of the system and baseline of use.

Although the Crown Vic SKIDCAR was serviced and eventually put into use, the modern driving techniques learned in the big SUV were much more valuable and the SUV was ultimately used throughout the training. Oddly enough and true to form, the techniques learned for Stable Platform Concepts of maintaining grip used to drive the SUV were also utilized to efficiently drive without activating the ESC. The ESC only engaged when a driver error occurred. Brilliant!

With ESC being made standard on all new police vehicles including sedans and SUVs, this type of training can only become increasingly important in saving the lives of our officers on the road.