5 Hours / 5 CEs

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on Designing Mental Health Training Curricula for Police Culture is presented by Christopher Weaver, Ph.D. and Ret. Sgt. Vanessa Payne.

This program describes stereotypes and evidence regarding police as a cultural group, including reviewing relevant laws and sample policies that govern police behavior. Participants are guided to draft a mock training curriculum for a challenging and divisive topic, customized to the interaction of police culture with their own.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  • 1 Describe stereotypical versus evidence-supported elements of police culture
  • 2 Describe core tenets of police work that any training curriculum needs to honor
  • 3 Describe state police-perspective rationale supporting behaviors seen publicly as problematic
  • 4 Describe talking points to combat negative assumptions about yourself that police may hold
  • 5 Describe common points of failure for mental health professionals who train police
  • 6 Describe police-perspective talking points to teach a mental health-focused learning objective

  • Intended Audience

    This training is designed for mental health and allied professionals who work with or support law enforcement and public safety personnel. It is ideal for those specializing in police and public safety psychology, organizational training, or developing and implementing mental health training curricula for police personnel.


    Examples of Relevant Professionals:
    • Mental health professionals (psychologists, counselors, social workers)
    • Allied professionals involved in police training or organizational development
    • Consultants providing services to police departments or public safety organizations
    • Individuals tasked with designing or delivering mental health training for police personnel

  • Experience Level

    This training is appropriate for licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals at various experience levels engaging with police culture and curriculum development.

    • Beginner: Participants are new to police culture and have limited experience collaborating with law enforcement or developing training curricula for this population.

    • Intermediate: Participants have some experience working with or training police, and are familiar with basic concepts of police culture, but seek to deepen their understanding and curriculum development skills.

    • Advanced: Participants have extensive experience training or consulting with law enforcement, and are seeking advanced strategies for addressing complex cultural dynamics and divisive topics.

  • Practice Setting

    Professionals practice within law enforcement and public safety organizations, collaborating across operational, training, and wellness functions to design, deliver, and evaluate culturally responsive mental health curricula. The environment is structured, policy- and law-governed, mission-focused, and time-constrained, requiring nuanced navigation of police culture while addressing complex and divisive topics in on-site and virtual formats.


    Examples of Practice Settings:
    • Police departments (in-service and roll-call training rooms)
    • Police academies and regional training centers
    • Public safety agency training divisions (sheriff, fire, EMS, corrections)
    • Behavioral health/EAP and wellness units serving law enforcement
    • State POST commissions and municipal training bureaus
    • 911/dispatch centers and CIT program trainings
    • Consulting practices delivering on-site and virtual curricula to agencies
    • Union halls and command staff retreats for policy and culture initiatives

Presented By

Christopher M. Weaver, PhD Director of the Forensic Psychology Emphasis at Palo Alto University

Dr. Christopher Weaver is an Associate Professor at Palo Alto University, and Director of PAU’s Forensic Psychology Program. Dr. Weaver received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Louisville, and has held research and clinical positions (pre- and postdoctoral) at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University. He has published in the areas of psychopathy and violence risk assessment, and more recently in the areas of substance abuse and psychological trauma. His publications also include co-authored books in law & mental health and psychopathology. Dr. Weaver’s current research focuses on the role that trauma and substance use play in criminal offending, the assessment of dissimulation in PTSD assessment. He is also conducting a funded training and research program designed to increase police officer effectiveness in working with people with mental illness.

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Christopher M. Weaver, PhD

Presented By

Sgt. Vanessa Payne (Ret.)

Sgt. Payne has spent 29 years with the San Jose Police Dept. There, she served numerous roles, including patrol officer, Sexual Assaults Investigations Detective, and on the Internal Affairs and School Liaison Units. She also worked on the Threat Management and Domestic Violence teams of the Family Violence Unit. For the past 8 years, Sgt. Payne has headed the Crisis Management Unit tasked with coordinating and conducting SJPD's extensive CIT training program. There, Sgt. Payne worked to curate the CIT curriculum and to mentor and optimize the impact of health and mental health professionals' trainings on police officer trainees.

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Sgt. Vanessa Payne (Ret.)

CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).



Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.