The Tennessee POST Commission on Sept. 19 heard a demonstration of a new online training platform integrated with the academy's record system that staff said will let the agency produce Tennessee-specific training, push rapid updates, and automatically record completions in officers' Acadis training files.

Tim, a member of the specialized training team, said the platform will let POST film instructors, record student questions (with students mic'd), break long lessons into segments with acknowledgment questions, and require a final test for POST credit. "We are going to give free training to officers across this state through the platform," Tim said, adding the material will be Tennessee-specific and POST-approved.

Director Bello and other staff described the platform as a supplement to in-person training, not a replacement. Bello noted prior problems with national platforms that contained out-of-state material and gave an example of an EVOC lesson that suggested an approach that conflicted with Tennessee policy. Staff said the new system will let them update lessons within days after a law change and will automatically import successful completions into Acadis so agencies do not have to re-enter training manually.

POST staff said their first pilot course will be a school-resource-officer autism-awareness lesson filmed with feedback from pilot agencies; two pilot agencies have already agreed to test it. The commission did not take a formal vote on the presentation; staff said the rollout will start next month and additional courses will follow.

Commissioners emphasized they still expect in-person hands-on training where necessary; one commissioner said online training should supplement, not replace, in-person instruction. POST staff said they will continue to offer free in-person transition-school sessions when agencies attend, while using the platform to reach officers who cannot travel to a training site.