By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- • The Michigan State Police has integrated a structured mental fitness training program into its recruit academy curriculum, drawing from psychological performance techniques used by the Detroit Lions and other professional sports organizations.
- • The program was developed and implemented by Michigan State Police Sgt. Ashley Kierpaul, who holds a graduate background in sports psychology and identified a gap in how law enforcement agencies approached mental performance training compared to military and professional athletics.
- • Key components include sleep performance training — particularly relevant for officers working overnight and rotating shifts — and self-talk techniques designed to build confidence and emotional regulation under pressure.
- • Officials say the goal is to produce troopers who are better equipped to make sound decisions in high-stress, life-and-death situations on the street.
- • The Lions’ program, which includes significant emphasis on player sleep management around travel schedules, served as a direct model for the MSP initiative.
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan State Police has incorporated a mental fitness training program into its recruit academy based on performance psychology methods used by professional sports organizations, including the Detroit Lions, department officials confirmed as of June 2026.
The program was built by Sgt. Ashley Kierpaul, who developed an interest in applied sports psychology during graduate school and subsequently questioned why law enforcement agencies had not more broadly adopted the performance psychology techniques used by military branches, Olympic athletes, and professional sports teams — environments that, like policing, demand peak performance under high-pressure and high-consequence conditions. Kierpaul drew particular inspiration from Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell’s approach to developing mental grit and resilience in players.
Two core components anchoring the program are sleep training and self-talk development. The sleep training element addresses performance degradation caused by disrupted rest schedules, which Kierpaul noted is a persistent challenge for officers working midnight and rotating shifts. The self-talk component focuses on equipping recruits with techniques to maintain composure and guide themselves through difficult moments — a skill that Trooper Tucker Havel, a recent academy graduate, described as essential during the physically and mentally demanding phases of recruit training.
Kierpaul said the measurable outcomes for the public would be troopers with stronger emotional insight, more disciplined decision-making under stress, and greater composure in high-stakes incidents. “You’re going to get a more confident trooper, one who has better insight into their emotions and emotional regulation,” Kierpaul said. “You’re going to get better decision-making and someone who can remain calm under pressure, which is exactly what the public needs in a high-stress situation.”