Critical Incident Management BD&A (Before, During & After)

Critical Incident Management BD&A is a 3 consecutive day highly interactive course designed for law enforcement leaders (of all ranks) who must make rapid, principled, and informed decisions before, during, and after a critical incident.

This course goes far beyond the initial planning and response phase. Students will not only learn how to plan for and manage the chaos of a crisis — such as an active shooter, hostage situation, barricade, or major crime scene — but also how to lead through the aftermath that follows.  The aftermath modules address the most challenging and often overlooked responsibilities of team mates, supervisors, and command, including managing line-of-duty injuries and deaths, ensuring family notifications and care, handling media and political dynamics, working with outside entity investigations, preparing for litigation, and safeguarding officer wellness and resilience. 

Through a blend of facilitated discussions, group decision-making exercises, debriefs, and workshops, students will be immersed in realistic, scenario-driven learning — not a “death by PowerPoint.”  The course is built on differential learning principles, which research shows significantly increased retention through video-based scenarios, audio recordings, and small-group problem-solving exercises.

Each participant will be equipped with practical leadership tools, including checklists, command forms, and even a Critical Incident Response Guide (issued to all students), which is a field resource guide designed for incidents such as Active Shooter/Killer events, Barricades, Hostage Situations, Natural Disasters, Officer/Deputy Involved Shootings, Missing Persons, Protests/Riots, Line of Duty Deaths, Special Event Planning, Search Warrants, Major Crime Scenes, Media Relations and Establishing Perimeters (with K9 and SWAT). The guide includes resource lists, intelligence templates, suspect/location/vehicle information sheets, and organizational charts that are designed to be filled in to simplify complex operations under stress. This guide can be added to any mobile command post or equipment bag carried by law enforcement officers and leaders.  

In summary, students will leave this course with a proven, effective, complete system for before, during, and after critical incidents emphasizing:

• Proper effective planning
• Establishing and maintaining command
• Making confident, defensible decisions under pressure
• Mitigating risk while protecting personnel and the community
• Proper incident investigations
• Leading the recovery, not just the response

Critical Incident Management BD&A (Before, During & After) isn’t just about learning — it’s about equipping officers and leaders with a mindset, a structure, and a system they can immediately apply the next time a critical incident occurs.  For most, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.  Are you prepared..? 

Students are responsible for obtaining permission and approval from their departments prior to registration if the student plans to attend on-duty and have the agency pay for it. You know the rules. 

If you want to attend, we recommend working with your agency prior to registering for a class. Because if you register for a class, and your department does not approve your time or tuition for any reason, you are still responsible for the terms of the attendance and cancellation policy including any applicable tuition. Again, we know you get it. We look forward to seeing you in class!

Critical Incident Leadership is offered in two course formats: "Hosted Classes" where students register individually, and "Contracted Classes" where agencies purchase the course at a discounted rate. For scheduling or inquiries, please contact us.

This class is open to all federal, state, tribal, county and local law enforcement agencies.  Peace officers and dispatchers of all ranks are welcome and encouraged to attend.