Police officer training program coming to Central Florida sparks controversy

ORLANDO, Fla. - A huge police training conference is happening this weekend in Central Florida, but some believe the training is controversial.

The Street Cop Training program is coming to Central Florida on Sunday as part of a five-day law enforcement training program at Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee. However, some Central Florida law enforcement agencies are choosing not to attend because some of the methods being taught have been considered controversial.

The training program has been banned in several states. A state agency in New Jersey investigated a Street Cop Training program from 2021. The New Jersey Comptroller's Office found that the training taught unconstitutional policing tactics, glorified violence, and degraded women and minorities.

David Thomas, a law enforcement expert at Florida Gulf Coast University, weighed in on the conference, saying he understands that law enforcement can use profanity behind the scenes, but he said things went too far.

"If we're going to use profanity, I understand because I understand the audience. But then after that, the discussions of violence and marriage and dowries and all the other stuff that I saw. It doesn't have a place," said Thomas. "When you talk about the violence and how much the instructor loves violence. It tells people who are being trained that that's okay."

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According to the Street Cop Training website, the program's goal is to give law enforcement confidence to catch more criminals and save more lives. The man who runs the program declined an interview with FOX 35 News on Friday but had previously said that the narrative the New Jersey Comptroller painted was "false and misleading."

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office had previously vetted the training program and decided not to attend this weekend.

"We had them teach a class, and our training staff said, you know what? This doesn't fit the culture of our agency," said Sheriff Mike Chitwood. "You have to be fiscally responsible, and you also have to make sure that you're responsible in that the money you're spending on the technologies or the training, or the equipment is stuff that is going to benefit your community."

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said it is aware of past concerns about the program. The agency is sending two OCSO representatives to vet it and decide whether to send others in the future.

According to the training conference website, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey is listed as a speaker this weekend.