15 MAY 2019 · In this episode Michael Simpkins with Kerry Avery of Odin Training Solutions. We discuss current training trends, blended and online learning formats, virtual reality, and best practices when designing effective training programs. To learn more about Kerry and Odin Training Solutions visit her website at https://odintrainingsolutions.com/.

1 MAY 2019 · In this episode I speak with Scott Ogrodowczyk & Denver Kindiger of K.O. Combatives, a comprehensive defensive tactics system for police officers.

17 APR 2019 · In Episode 7 your host Michael Simpkins talks with Ryan Roettger of the Autism and Law Enforcement Coalition. Ryan shares his knowledge about law enforcement and people with Autism.

3 APR 2019 · Hey everyone… Michael Simpkins here, welcome to Episode 6 of The Police Instructor’s Podcast… thank you for joining me today… I appreciate you taking the time to listen. In this episode I’m speaking with Michelle Kixmiller about PTSD in law enforcement… she’s going to share strategies that may help us recognize it and overcome it… Michelle Kixmiller is a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Licensed Educator. She works with adults and children with mental health needs including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, trauma recovery, and substance use disorders. Michelle currently works full time for a non-profit community mental health center and serves as nursing clinical instructor for Belmont University. Prior to her current position she has worked as both a critical care burn nurse at Vanderbilt Medical Center and as a medical-surgical nurse. Having lost her younger brother after a long battle with depression and alcoholism, Michelle is dedicated to erasing the stigma surrounding the topic of mental health that prevents individuals from getting the care they need. She speaks on topics such as mental health wellness, creating mentally healthy environments, and really just any and all things mental health. For any of you listening today who may be struggling with PTSD or more, know you’re not alone. Pay attention to this episode, listen all the way through, because Michelle has a wealth of knowledge to share about PTSD and mental wellness. Thank you for being here with me today Michelle, I’m excited you’re here, welcome to the Police Instructor’s Podcast. What You’ll Learn in this Episode: 1.Overview of PTSD (causes, signs and symptoms to look for outside of the stereotype) 2.Stress Continuum Model that can be used as a guide for early intervention: Click the following link to see the stress continuum model: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z2nzksqnmn4977s/PoliceStressFirstAid.pdf?dl=0 3.First steps and finding the intervention that is right for you. 4.Importance of having resources readily available and easily accessible that can be accessed without fear of repercussion in regard to work and with maintained confidentiality.

20 MAR 2019 · In this episode Michael Simpkins talks with Danny Aloy who shares a story of an on-duty attack that changed his life forever. Hey everyone… Michael Simpkins here, welcome to Episode 5 of The Police Instructor’s Podcast… thank you so much for joining me today… I appreciate you taking the time to listen. This podcast takes you on a journey with police officers, police instructors, and other industry experts to provide information on training trends, officer stories, and more. In this episode I’m speaking with Danny Aloy, a good friend, who has an incredible story to share. Danny retired from law enforcement after serving 19 years at local agencies in Tennessee and Florida. Make sure you pay attention because Danny’s going to share an incident that occurred in Santa Rosa County, Florida on July 22, 2004 that changed his life forever. Make sure to pay attention all the way through, and I’ll meet up with you at the end. Thank you for being here with me today Danny, I’m extremely excited you’re here, welcome to the Police Instructor’s Podcast.

6 MAR 2019 · In this Episode Michael Simpkins talks with Darren Dake the founder and COO of the Death Investigation Academy and the Coroner Talk Podcast. We talk about the good and bad of online training and he provides us with strategies to help us improve at what we do... teach police officers. Hey everyone… Michael Simpkins here, welcome to Episode 4 of The Police Instructor’s Podcast… thank you so much for joining me today… I appreciate you taking the time to listen. My name is Michael Simpkins, I’m here sharing important information with you covering different aspects of law enforcement, with an emphasis on training. In this episode I’m speaking with Darren Dake, the founder and COO of the Death Investigation Training Academy in Cuba, Missouri. Darren Dake is a certified instructor and criminal investigator with over 30 years’ experience in the field of law enforcement and death investigations. He holds certification as an instructor for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Missouri Sheriff’s Association, and the Law Enforcement Training Institute – (Missouri University Columbia). Darren is founding director and lead instructor for the Death Investigation Training Academy™ and publisher of the Coroner Talk Podcast™ and the Death Investigator Magazine Make sure you pay attention because Darren has some good strategies to share with us that can help us in the planning, developing and implanting of our courses. Make sure to pay attention all the way through, and I’ll meet up with you at the end. Thank you for being here with me today Darren, I’m extremely excited you’re here, welcome to the Police Instructor’s Podcast. What You’ll Learn in This Episode 1.Is there a secret or technique you can share with our listeners that helps you think “outside of the box” when planning and developing learning content? Listen to your student 2.What is one of your daily habits you strongly believe contributes to your success? Start the morning off on a positive 3.Tell us about a challenging time or situation you and your company faced concerning training, but you persisted – made the tough decisions… and now, that once painful memory serves as an invaluable learning experience. Keeping an open mind 4.What’s the most critical skill you think police instructors need to master in order to thrive today? Embrace online training 5.When it comes to developing and implementing effective police training, what was the most influential lesson you ever learned from one of your mentors and how did it help you become the leader you are today? We need to do our job so perfect that the judges and lawyers can’t even screw it up 6.If there was a magic “reset” button as it relates to course creation… what systems would you go back and put into place sooner rather than later… and why? We need to interact with our people more 7.What one strategy – or recipe – that police course creators could consistently apply every day – that would compound into big wins for them? Remain relevant 8.Imagine you’re standing in front of a room of police instructors – people – just like you. They’re battling their way through fears, worries, doubts, and struggles to find their footing. What are 2 or 3 strategies you would recommend they focus on to best ensure success? You’re not alone Ways to Contact Darren: •Company Website: http://coronertalk.com/ •Podcast: Listen to the Coroner Talk Podcast Here •Death Investigation Website: https://ditacademy.org/

20 FEB 2019 · In this Episode I speak with Mark Simons of Empower Wellness. During our discussion Mark shares his strategies for success in overcoming fear and self-doubt. Hey everyone… Michael Simpkins here, welcome to Episode 3 of The Police Instructor’s Podcast… thank you so much for joining me today… I appreciate you taking the time to listen. My name is Michael Simpkins, I’m here sharing important information with you and covering different aspects of law enforcement, with an emphasis on training. In this episode I’m speaking with Mark Simons, a friend of mine, who has an incredible story to share… breaking down strategies to a positive mindset and overcoming our fears and self-doubt. Mark is a successful business man and entrepreneur. He currently leads a personal training and self & home defense company in Franklin, TN. Mark retired from law enforcement after serving for 30 years at a local agency in Wisconsin, where he was a member of the SWAT team and was responsible for use of force training. Make sure you pay attention because Mark has some good strategies that can help you work through issues of fear and self-doubt and move forward and past whatever is holding you back. Make sure to pay attention all the way through, and I’ll meet up with you at the end. Thank you for being here with me today Mark, I’m extremely excited you’re here, welcome to the Police Instructor’s Podcast. What you’ll learn about in this episode: 1.Is there a secret or technique you can share with our listeners that helps you overcome self-doubt and fear when you’re operating out of your comfort zone? Breaking out of the stereotypes of what I thought I was supposed to be. 2.What is one of your daily habits you strongly believe contributes to your success? Training Daily 3.How important do you think physical fitness is to officers today? Very important, especially as a release 4.Tell us about a challenging time or situation you and your company faced, but you persisted – made the tough decisions… and now, that once painful memory serves as an invaluable learning experience. There was a time he was scrutinized by supervisors over his testimony, the positive support he received from fellow officers was amazing. 5.What’s the most critical skill you think police instructors need to master to overcome their fears and/or self-doubt in order to thrive today? Don’t take scrutiny personal 6.When it comes to developing a positive mindset, what was the most influential lesson you ever learned from one of your mentors and how did it help you become the leader you are today? Don’t let the job define you 7.What one strategy – or recipe – could we as police instructors consistently apply every day – that would help us be better instructors? Remember your why Ways to Contact Mark: Company Website: https://empowerwellness.net/ Contact: https://empowerwellness.net/contact/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Empowerwellnessfitness/

11 FEB 2019 · In Episode 002 Michael Simpkins talks with Chris Vrooman of Victory Solutions and The Journey Training about creating and maintaining a positive mindset. He breaks down strategies to overcoming fears and self-doubt that helps us be more self-aware, so we can be better at what we do as instructors. Hey everyone… Michael Simpkins here, welcome to Episode 2 of The Police Instructor’s Podcast… thank you so much for joining me today… I appreciate you taking the time to listen. My name is Michael Simpkins, I’m here to help you improve police training, overcome your fears, and help you get your training online. We are off to an amazing start in 2019. In this episode I’m speaking with Chris Vrooman, a very close friend of mine, who has an incredible story to share… breaking down strategies to a positive mindset and overcoming our fears and self-doubt. Founder and CEO, Chris Vrooman is a successful business leader and entrepreneur. He currently leads an executive coaching and team / leadership training company in Nashville, TN and is one of the founders of The Journey Training. Chris had created and sold a large, healthcare consulting firm and is a retired military veteran in the United States Air Force. For any of you out there who’s struggling with overcoming fears and/or self-doubt, it could about anything at work… or in your personal lives… you definitely want to make sure you pay attention, because Chris has some good strategies that can help you work through those issues, get past them, and move forward and past whatever is holding you back. Make sure to pay attention all the way through, and I’ll meet up with you at the end. Thank you for being here with me today Chris, I’m extremely excited you’re here, welcome to the Police Instructor’s Podcast. What you’ll learn about in this episode: •Chris’s secret/technique to overcoming self-doubt and fear when operating out of our comfort zone oHe talks about being able to recognize physical signs of fear in ourselves so we can take control of it. •A daily habit of his that contributes to his success oChris is an early riser and attributes maintaining a positive mindset to spending time to himself first thing in the morning before his family wakes. •A challenging time or situation Chris’s company faced, and persisted through and now, that once painful memory serves as an invaluable learning experience oChris shares a time in his business him and his business partners were extremely stressed during a time of transition. He and his team members took the time to sit down and talk through each members fears. •The most critical skill Chris thinks police instructors need to master to overcome their fears and/or self-doubt in order to thrive today oMaster yourself, self-awareness is key. •If there was a magic reset button… What systems would he put into place and why? oCounseling Ways to Contact Chris: •Company Website: https://thejourneytraining.com/ •Email Michael Simpkins: info@thinbluelearn.com •Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clvrooman.victorysolutions/

10 FEB 2019 · Welcome to Episode 001 of the Police Instructor's Podcast. In this episode I talk about the reason for the show, what to expect from me during the show, the show format, and I finish it up with a tip I think you'll appreciate. Show Notes and Transcript:Hey, what’s up… this is Michael Simpkins from ThinBlueLearn where I provide amazing online learning for police officers… welcome to Episode 1 of the Police Instructor’s Podcast… Welcome to the very first episode of the Police Instructor’s Podcast… It’s hard to believe the show is finally here… I’ve been working for so long trying to make this podcast a reality… and it’s finally here… 2019 is the year and I’m so excited! The story behind this podcast is actually kind of interesting and unique… I’d been working on my online course… Instructor Development for Law Enforcement for almost 2 years and I realized I wanted to do a podcast as well… the reason the course took so long to create wasn’t because it was complicated… Yeah it took a lot of work but the delay was mostly because of my fear and self-doubt and wondering if I could pull it off… That’s when I decided I wasn’t going to let that happen again with this podcast… I decided to go for it… and here we are… So, I wanted to say thank you for listening from wherever you are… I really appreciate you taking the time to listen… This episode is going to be a little different from the norm, I’m going to be going over a quick introduction of who I am… an introduction of what to expect and why I’m hosting this podcast. Not only how it benefits me… but more importantly how it benefits you and why you should keep listening to future episodes… So, if you haven’t heard of me before… my name is Michael Simpkins, I own ThinBlueLearn.com where I specialize in bringing police training online without compromising the quality of the training… I love sharing what I do… if you know me from police training circles, you know I’m passionate about what I do because I want police instructors to know they can be successful online… in a professional… helpful way… by bringing top notch police training to officers using the power and flexibility of the internet… I’ve been a police officer in Tennessee for 23 years, where I’ve spent the majority of that time as an instructor… throughout my career I’ve been fortunate enough to work in several different aspects of law enforcement… from patrol to narcotics, to investigations, SWAT, Crisis Negotiations… I’ve been fortunate enough to do it all… Now, I’m the training coordinator for my department… responsible for general department instruction and new recruit training… So, yeah than you for listening, I really hope to be able to provide you with some awesome content on this show… I don’t want to be a waste of your time… I want to get away from the fluff I hear in other police podcasts and just give you great content you can put to use right away and help you bring your training online… I’ve been very passionate about providing quality online police training that facilitates learning retention… that’s why I created ThinBlueLearn and this podcast… I want to share valuable knowledge-based content from industry experts with you in a way that helps you plan, develop and implement your training… Most police officers, when we think of online training… we think of sitting in front of a computer screen watching boring videos… you know… training with no value and zero training transfer… I’m sure you’ve clicked that play button on online training… walked away and was hoping the video was done by the time you got back… I know I have… As trainers, we all know there is little training value in that… which is why I’ve created the ThinBlueLearn online training system… it challenges and engages officers in a way that helps them take what they’ve learned to their job… Yeah… the officers are expected to work… it’s not easy… it challenges them… but they learn… So that’s why I’m here doing this podcast… to share what I know… and to bring in industry experts to share what they know… because let’s face it… I have a lot to learn too… this podcast isn’t about me… it’s about you… so we can learn together… new and innovative ways to train our officers… It’s all about putting yourself out there… taking leaps of faith… taking bold action… and making things happen… we can plan and plan and read all we want… but we have to take action… That’s what it’s all about… that’s what I’m here to try to get you to do… to take action… think outside the box about your training courses… and develop ways to improve police training… That’s why I’m here… that’s why… I want to show you how you can do it… I remember the first time I mentioned creating an online course for police training to a friend… a fellow officer… I want to bring the training online… and he convinced me it was a waste of time… and I listened to him and didn’t create the course… I didn’t work toward what I envisioned… Now… about nine years later… I finally stepped out of the norm and created an instructor development course that’s online… I did it and so can you… it IS possible… Now let’s talk about the format of the show… moving on to the next segment of this episode… like I said earlier… this episode is a special one because it’s my first one… but a normal episode will be like this… It’ll be about 30 minutes long… which is long enough to get in depth on the topic of the episode… but short enough so I don’t drag you along and waste your time… it’ll force me as the host to make sure we touch the really important points right away… I’ll bring on guests and we’ll touch on one or two topics regarding police training where we’ll dig deeper into what’s working and into innovative “outside of the box” strategies on how to develop effective police training… After that… in each episode I like to include something that called “Breaking Down the Recipe to Success” segment… where I’ll be asking each guest I have on to break down their recipes or strategies for success in relation to course creation and police training in general… This is the part of the show where I want you to be able to take away something of value and to implement it right away… So, I’ll try to get all of my guests to share their recipes or strategies to success so we can implement those things as well, for our own courses… Again, this podcast is all about you… I’m trying to help you and show you what works and also what doesn’t work… Now… that’s a lot to cover in 30 minutes but I think we can get some great valuable information we can use… plus it won’t take much effort to listen to the episode again if you need it for further instruction or guidance… Lastly, I’d like to talk about why I’m hosting this podcast… the first reason may be a little selfish… by my public speaking skills are horrible and they need a lot of work and improvement… This forces me to get better at what I know I need to improve on… I’m really good at writing and doing technical things… but when I’m on the microphone I get nervous and this will force me to do better…. Hopefully when you’re listening to this podcast in the future… you’ll be able to see a huge improvement in my voice, my style, the flow of the show and it’ll seem flawless… that’s what I’m striving for… Because I’ve learned the best way for me to improve is by doing… that’s why I’m doing this podcast… to try and become a better speaker… and try and be better behind the microphone… By stepping out of my comfort zone and putting myself out there… that’s exactly how I got into creating online courses and that’s exactly how I’m going to master this podcasting thing and hopefully you’ll join me in this journey… The second reason and the most important reason… is to help you… Everything I publish… everything I’m saying on this podcast is here for you… If you email me or leave a comment, I’ll make it a point to respond… because ultimately you’re why I’m here doing this podcast and creating online courses… I’m trying to help as many of you out there as I can… If you want to learn more… if you’re new to this podcast… and want to know more about me you can check out my site at www.thinbluelearn.com... Or if you’d like to reach out to me and just say hey… the best way is to send me an email at info@thinbluelearn.com... I will respond… I promise… Now before I go I’m going to leave you with one tip… I hope you can take away from this first episode… and that’s not to be afraid to fail… I’m doing this podcast and creating online courses at ThinBlueLearn… and I’m good with whatever happens because I know I’m going to learn from my experiences… if you’re not afraid to fail… you won’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and reach crazy high levels of success as a online police instructor… For me it was when I pushed fear aside, stepped out of my comfort zone and took those chances that I finally did what I set out to do… I failed a lot along the way… but I embrace each and every one of those failures because they got me to where I am today… So, don’t be afraid to fail… or to make mistakes… try to do your best… but when you do fail or make a mistake… learn from it and move on… So, thank you again… for listening to the very first episode of the Police Instructor’s Podcast… I hope you enjoyed it and I’ll see you in episode 2… take care… be safe… bye now.