Digging in Deeper: A Video Q&A with Axon's Head of Training

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With TASERCON right around the corner, we wanted to peel away the exterior and uncover some of the most important issues we will be tackling . . . issues crippling police departments across the country that we believe don’t get talked about enough.

That’s why we decided to have a conversation with Axon’s own Andy Wrenn, Head of Training, and Scott Rottman, Director of Policy and Training Strategy. From hosting forums that dig into subjects like recruitment and suicide to female leadership and life expectancy, Scott and Andy cover a lot of ground in a very short time.

‍“We want to talk about things that are tough to tackle, and candidly, that the profession of law enforcement hasn’t really figured this out.”‍

‍“We provide the forum that brings people together to really start working on these tough issues.”‍

‍“Law enforcement today is facing some real challenges both internal and external to the profession.”‍

‍“We need to tackle burnout and tackle some of the things that negatively impact the decision to use force and that’s really where we’re keyed-in and what we’re excited about.”‍

‍Full Video Transcript
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‍ANDY: TASERCON’s a very human focused conference, and we really want to talk about some really tough things - we want to get gritty, and we want to talk about things that are tough to tackle, and candidly, that profession of law enforcement hasn’t really figured this out.

We know agencies are really starting to unpack this right now, but nobody is - at least that we’ve talked to or seen - has completely unpacked how to solve all the things. So, what we thought was why don’t we provide the forum that brings people together to really start working on these tough issues.

‍SCOTT: I think that law enforcement today is facing some real challenges both internal and external to the profession. And if we look at some of those challenges realistically, we can see that some cities have a 30-40% retention and recruitment challenge, we have a challenge with respect to health - physical health and mental health.

We have a divorce rate that is above the national average of 50%, in law enforcement its 70%.

We have a law enforcement life expectancy challenge, the rest of society has a life expectancy of 85 years, law enforcement officers incredibly only have a life expectancy of 58 years. That’s a 27-year decrease from the rest of the US.

And so Axon thought it was our responsibility - almost a moral obligation - to tackle these challenges that Public Safety is facing head on, and that’s what we’re doing at TASERCON.

ANDY: Chief Kristen Ziman - one of the most phenomenal and well regarded leaders in law enforcement today - is gonna be there and help talk about some of these issues.

We’ve got Colonel Gordon from the United States Marine Corps who’s the head of the Citadel right now is gonna be talking about some of the best things and worst things he’s learned about in leadership.

We’ve got a whole host of partners who are gonna be there to talk about just general wellness and vitality in law enforcement and we need to tackle burnout and tackle some of the things that negatively impact the decision to use force and that’s really where we’re keyed-in and what we’re excited about.

‍SCOTT: Maureen McGough is the co-founder of an organization called 30 by 30. In fact, Maureen just last week was with the Attorney General of the United States talking about how her organization is tackling the problem of the low participation rates of women in law enforcement.

Women unfortunately only make up 12% of law enforcement today and only 3% of executive management being Chief’s and Sheriff’s are made up of women.

So Maureen McGough’s 30 by 30 organization is sponsoring initiatives that will take by 2030 to have 30% of women in police academies represented in law enforcement, and I think that we at axon have a moral obligation to help further that initiative and I can’t think of any better place to build that connective tissue and to share those ideas than at TASERCON.