Probation Officer Safety Training
Training/Workshop · September 2017
In 2017, while serving as a Probation Officer/Presentence Investigator for Kauaʻi's Adult Probation Office, Kim was selected as one of two certified trainers for the island — responsible for delivering Natural Response Control Tactics: Level 1, a curriculum developed by the Community Corrections Institute (CCI), alongside CCI's companion training, Safety in Community-Based Supervision. Hawaiʻi's probation officers do not carry firearms, unlike the majority of U.S. states, making mental preparation and physical control tactics — not weapons — the primary line of officer safety in the field.
Being one of two people responsible for the physical safety training of an entire county's probation department was a level of trust I didn't fully register until I was standing in front of the room. There's no firearm to fall back on in Hawaiʻi's system — the entire safety model rests on preparation, awareness, and technique, which meant the stakes of teaching this material correctly were real, not theoretical. Structuring a training that moved people from lecture into simulated, high-stress physical scenarios — and back out again through debrief — taught me something about training design I still carry: information alone doesn't build competence, rehearsal under realistic pressure does. It's a principle I find myself returning to any time I'm building something meant to actually change how someone acts, not just what they know.
Outcomes
- Recognize and respond to threat indicators using the color-code awareness system and OODA loop
- Apply legally defensible use-of-force decision-making under case law precedent (e.g., Davis v. Mason County)
- Execute defensive tactics for grabs, chokeholds, and edged-weapon/firearm disarmament
- Manage psychological readiness and secondary trauma in high-stress field work
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