It is incumbent on us as professionals to constantly learn and train in this profession. There is too much at risk to allow ourselves to become complacent or mediocre. These 5 topics are just building blocks that you should add to throughout your career and make a conscious effort to implement them daily. Topics discussed: Getting your head right, The "what if", Taking it all in, Understanding the arrest plan, Efficacy and awareness. There are many components to use of force and this is just a myopic overview of some things that you can incorporate today to positively influence your outcome if you have to use force. The bottom line is that you cannot possibly train enough.  

Elia Alfonso is a Police Lieutenant in Manassas, Virginia. She is a New Jersey native and a first-generation Cuban born in the US. Elia left John Jay College in her junior year to pursue a Law Enforcement career in Manassas, Virginia.

Elia attended the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy and graduated with the 101 st session in December of 1999. She was promoted to sergeant in 2006 and to lieutenant in 2012. She has been her agency’s Defensive Tactics Program Manager since 2006. Elia has various certifications that are related to Use of Force such as Taser Instructor, Force Science Analyst, In-Custody Death Prevention, and ASP /Baton. Elia is a certified IADLETS instructor and Department of Criminal Justice Services (VA) instructor. Elia has also been a member of the Crisis Negotiations team since 2002 and the Team Leader since 2017. Throughout her career, she has received numerous commendations, awards, a valor award, a lifesaving award, and Officer of the Year in 2006. Elia is currently in her 25th year of service and is a Patrol Evening Shift Lieutenant. Twenty of those years have been spent in Patrol. To say that Patrol is her passion is an understatement and it is only second to all things Defensive Tactics. Elia has been an avid martial artist since she was 13 and is currently a student of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Gracie Barra Princeton, where she has helped develop a BJJ course specifically for Law Enforcement.