On Tuesday, September 29, 2015 and October 1, 2015 the Natchitoches Police Department hosted eight hour training sessions on the VALOR Initiative.  The VALOR Initiative is a national training program that was designed to help prevent violence against law enforcement officers and ensure officer resilience and survivability following violent encounters experienced during the course of the officer’s duties.  In addition, VALOR responds to the precipitous increase in ambush-style assaults that have taken the lives of many law enforcement officers.

Furthermore, VALOR provides instruction and material to various levels of law enforcement, to include line officers, trainers, and chief executives.  Throughout the training, officers are provided with tools to enhance their professionalism while utilizing techniques for preventing and de-escalating situations that may result in a violent encounter.

During VALOR Training officers learn the importance of:

Identifying concealed weapons and/or armed gunmen
Pre-incident indicators of potential assault
Recognizing and defusing dangerous situations
Implementing casualty care and rescue tactics training.

Both training sessions were offered free of charge to all surroundings agencies who wished to participate in the training. Deputies from the Natchitoches Parish Sheriffs Office along with the Provencal Police Department trained with all officers of the Natchitoches Police Department. At current the Natchitoches Police Department has three instructors who actively teach the VALOR Initiative; Detective-Lieutenant Stan Williams, Detective-Sergeant Jeff Townson, and Shift Supervisor-Sergeant Steve Rachal Jr.Chief of Police Micky Dove stated, “the VALOR Training was offered in an effort to increase the overall professionalism exhibited by all officers and the training shall directly assist officers in surviving violent encounters”.