Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Moves Training Online with THINQ TrainingServer Learning...

Business/Education Editors & High-Tech Writers

BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2002

Program will make law enforcement employees more effective while

reducing training costs

Seeking to continually enhance public safety and employee effectiveness,

the Palm Beach (Fla.) County Sheriff's Office has deployed the THINQ TrainingServer(R) Learning Management System (LMS) to help deliver "blended" learning and facilitate online law enforcement training for 3,000 employees. The migration to online training involves some of the most critical subject matter that exists for a first-response agency and is designed to significantly improve service to citizens. It will also help reduce training-related travel and overtime costs through streamlined training administration and greater access to learning resources through the Web. The implementation reflects THINQ's unsurpassed commitment to serving the unique needs of its government customers.

To date, virtually all Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office training has been in a classroom or out in the field. Moving training online saves Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office time, money and resources by eliminating back-and-forth travel to headquarters, keeping officers on the street, and avoiding overtime expenditures to replace employees who are absent for training. With online training, personnel can learn whenever and wherever they want, on the job or at home, at a pace suitable for the employee.

"Adopting the THINQ LMS will make our learning programs more efficient and practical," said Capt. Alan May of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office training bureau. "The point, however, isn't to make our work easier, though that's certainly a benefit. It's about performing our jobs better and keeping Palm Beach County safe for citizens, employees and visitors. With THINQ's excellent customer support, we'll be able to focus fully on these goals."

The agency's accreditation standards require 40 yearly hours of training for law enforcement personnel and corrections officers, and 24 yearly hours for sworn civilian employees. Likely courses for online or blended online/classroom training include mandatory training on sexual harassment, blood-borne pathogens and violence in the workplace. Whether the training takes place online, in the classroom or as a combination, the THINQ LMS will track and manage all learning resources, events and personnel training information. As a result, the department will be able to generate reports - for the state or anyone else - on any aspect of the training or on the groups or individuals taking a particular course or curriculum.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office implemented the THINQ LMS in August and is just beginning to roll out its first online classes. In the future, the department may extend its training to the public, partners and other constituencies.

"Learning is rarely more important than in law enforcement, where life and death depends largely on the competence of the officer," said THINQ President and CEO Ray Maskell. "Palm Beach has made an uncompromising commitment to training and is sustaining that commitment with the selection of the THINQ LMS."

About the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

Palm Beach County was established on April 30, 1909, becoming the state's 47th county. Of the current 67 Florida counties, it is the largest, spanning 2,386 square miles. Its current estimated population is 1,062,400. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) provides patrol services to an unincorporated and contract population of 519,832, provides civil and corrections services to all residents, and when requested, provides support services to all other county police departments. Sheriff Edward W. Bieluch is the twelfth individual to serve as the county's chief law enforcement officer since the agency's origin in 1909.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office currently employs a total of 2,928 staff, comprised of 1,060 sworn law enforcement officers, 667 sworn corrections officers, and 1,201 non-sworn support staff of whom 218 are part-time. Additionally, PBSO has approximately 6,200 volunteers assisting throughout the community. The budget for fiscal year 2001 is $232,157,589.

About THINQ

THINQ Learning Solutions, Inc. is the leading provider of enterprise software for learning management with more large-scale deployments than any other LMS vendor, including 24 customers with more than 20,000 learners and nine customers with more than 100,000. More than 200 global organizations and government agencies use the THINQ TrainingServer Learning Management System (LMS) to manage the registration, planning, scheduling, delivery, resource allocation and outcomes of their organization's enterprise learning activities. Customers can further advance their long-term learning strategies using the THINQ Learning Management Maturity Model (LM3(TM)) and promote seamless e-learning delivery with the THINQ Courseware Compatibility Center (C3(TM)). THINQ customers include the U.S. Navy, Citigroup and Lockheed Martin. THINQ is a private company headquartered in Billerica, Mass., with operations in the United States, Canada and the U.K. For more information, contact THINQ at (800) 869-9461, or visit www.THINQ.com.

THINQ and TrainingServer are registered trademarks, and C3 and LM3 are trademarks, of THINQ Learning Solutions, Inc. All other company or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.