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Lt. Brian Helmerson is the Operational Skills Unit Commander, which is comprised of 4 members, Sgt. Martin Krpan, Cpl. Tscharna Senn, Cpl. Joe Senn, and Officer Alan Gray. Each member brings numerous years of training experience and qualifications to the unit. Lt. Helmerson is the Department’s ALERT commander, a Firearms, Defensive Tactics, Driving, Taser and PPCT instructor. He was also the Negotiations Response Team commander prior to taking over ALERT. Lt. Helmerson was previously assigned to training where he spent three years as a corporal. Sgt. Krpan is the ALERT Executive Officer, as well as an instructor in Firearms, Defensive Tactics, Driving, Taser and PPCT. He has eight years of previous experience working in training. Cpl. Tscharna Senn is a member of the Department’s Honor Guard as well as an Instructor Trainer for PPCT and an instructor in Firearms, Driving, Taser, Defensive Tactics, CPR, and subject control spray. Cpl. T. Senn is also an instructor in the Incident Command Structure curriculum, which is an instructor level class that very few instructors hold in the State. She is also the coordinator of the Santa Fe Community College Institute of Public Safety’s basic recruit class. Cpl. Joe Senn is a team leader on SWAT and an instructor in Firearms, Driving, Defensive Tactics, Taser and PPCT. He has been an adjunct instructor for Santa Fe Community College Institute of Public Safety for several years. Officer Alan Gray is the newest member to the Operational Skills Unit and is a certified Firearms instructor and PPCT instructor. Ofc. Gray has been a rifle instructor for a private company and currently runs his own rifle instruction business. The primary function of the Operational Skills Unit is to provide Department members with the knowledge and skills to enhance and maintain their abilities to provide the best possible service to the citizens of Gainesville. The Operational Skills Unit also serves as a liaison with the staff of the Santa Fe Community College Institute of Public Safety. Operational Skills members assist in coordinating and instructing recruit classes at the police academy. In addition, staff members conduct advanced training courses that include Instructor Techniques, Field Training Officer, Hostage Negotiator, Firearms Instructor, Driving Instructor, and Defensive Tactics Instructor. Advanced training courses are offered through the training facility to area law enforcement agencies as specialized training courses. These courses include a series of Community Policing blocks, which is the philosophy in which the Gainesville Police Department operates. The Field Training and Evaluation Program is a seventeen-week program that all new police officers must successfully complete prior to working in a solo capacity. The officer trainee is assigned to a field training officer/corporal who helps the trainee combine the knowledge obtained in the police academy with the procedures specific to the Gainesville Police Department. Trainees are evaluated on a daily basis for twelve weeks and when successful, they eventually participate in a one-day testing process involving an oral board and a written exam. Upon successful completion of the Field Training and Evaluation Program, the new officer is assigned to solo status in uniformed patrol.
The Operational Skills Unit has additional responsibilities that include the issuance and management of Department-owned weapon systems including handguns, shotguns, and OC Spray. Use-of-force incidents are reviewed on a case-by-case basis to identify training issues as well as compile an annual report that is submitted to the Chief of Police. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement mandates that all sworn personnel receive 40 hours of mandatory re-training every four years to maintain officer certification. The Operational Skills Unit strives to provide 40 hours of training per year to all sworn members of the Gainesville Police Department. The in-service training is designed to provide up-to-date, diverse, and effective training with an end goal of providing the City of Gainesville with professional police offers.
The Training Division offices are located at the Santa Fe Community College, George G. Kirkpatrick, Jr., Criminal Justice Training Center, Institute of Public Safety. More information can be obtained by contacting us at:
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