Thread: CA Peace Officers Standards and Training

Not sure if this is the correct area to post this question, but, here goes.

Does anyone know where to find the California Peace Officers Standards and Training reciprocity agreements?

The reason I ask is because as I wait on whether I will get hired by the US Supreme Court Police (passed all phases, but waiting the BI clearance and who knows how long that will take) I was thinking that instead of putting all my "eggs in one basket" and putting my life on hold I could at least get the California POST Academy completed which is 5 months long and have the Montgomery GI Bill pay for it. If I never get "the call" from the US Supreme Court Police then at least I will be fully trained and applying all over the place.

I just can't find a website (or whatever resource there is) that lists the Federal, State, County, and City agencies around the country that accept the training (not sure if there is one). That way I can apply to those agencies and not worry about having to go through their academy training, and I could be the "most qualified applicant" when I do apply.

For example I know that the US National Park Service has commissioned LE Park Rangers that can be hired as LE Rangers with a CA POST Academy Training Certificate. If they hire you and you don't have the training then they send you to FLETC to attend the LMPT program. Not a big if I had to go to FLETC, but as you can see I'm not going to FLETC and that is the problem. So instead of wasting my life waiting to go to FLETC I can put myself through it now and be fully qualified and ready to role. Just trying to better my chances. I think that even the US Mint Police do this also.

Anyway I'm sure that if you call up each agency you are interested in and ask they could tell you, but I'm just wondering if there is an online source or any source for that matter that someone on here knows of, that would be easier to get answers for regarding this question, without having to call each agency up.

Any insight will be appreciated.

Originally Posted by sempercoastie

Does anyone know where to find the California Peace Officers Standards and Training reciprocity agreements?

You're not going to find a centralized database that lists those agencies (other than those in CA and even here we have some that only accept their own academies like CHP) that will accept a CA POST certificate.

Here are a few things to consider... Generally CA is considered to be a fairly progressive state in terms of cutting edge training and police academy education. I used to hear that almost every state would accept a CA cop as a lateral officer as CA cops were some of the best trained in the nation. Obviously some CA cop spread this rumor .

In all fairness CA training has been (and continues to be) far more advanced that many other states. When our academies were 26 weeks and more, some other academies are only 10 to 12 weeks long. So many of the "advanced" training topics offered in other states *AFTER* the basic police academy are part of the basic CA POST academies.

Of course having advanced training or a longer academy only means one of a few things. #1 it is out of necessity. As many of the crime problems across the nation started here in CA. We are cutting edge on spreading criminal street gangs, methamphetamine, and other negative criminal elements throughout the nation, so in turn we have been on the cutting edge (we had no choice).

Although most places will *PROBABLY* have some program in place to let a POST Certified academy graduate become certified in another state through an abbreviated process, not all offer this. You're unfortunately going to have to call each state you're interested in working. I know a lot of folks go to work for agencies in FL who are originally from NY and other states, so I would ASSUME they have a fairly friendly out of state certification process available. Same thing with TX. I've heard getting your TX certificate is easier as a currently certified CA POST graduate.

Some states won't care one way or another if you have a CA POST certificate. HI for example requires all officers to go through their academies. I don't know if this is till current, but last time I checked even an officer from within the state: Say a Hawaii County, Maui County, or other police officer in HI wanted to lateral over to Honolulu PD. They would have to go through the Honolulu PD police academy to get certified for hire. Remember these guys are officers in the same state!

Also keep in mind... Your CA POST academy graduation certificate is only good for 3 years from the date of graduation. If you don't get a peace officer job here in CA that will keep your certificate current, you'll be uncertified after 3 years. Then your only choice is to complete a re certification course (several weeks long) to get another 3 years on your certificate. If this re certification expires before you get a job, then it's back to the full academy to get it back.

I think using the GI Bill would be a great benefit while going through a CA (or ANY) police academy, but I don't think it's going to get you rated "best qualified" in and of itself. Most places will probably appreciate the fact you have successfully completed an academy and it will probably speed up your certification process (they can get you a waiver or some other equivalency certificate in much less time than sending you to their own full academy), but other than that I don't think it's going to help all that much without having any actual experience.

If you do come to CA and go through the police academy, I don't think you'll have a hard time finding a job out here. Many places are hiring. I last heard over 15,000 open police positions exist within the state. I think this estimate is a bit high, but who knows maybe there are 15k slots waiting to be filled.

Good luck!

Kahuna

Originally Posted by Kahuna5150

You're not going to find a centralized database that lists those agencies (other than those in CA and even here we have some that only accept their own academies like CHP) that will accept a CA POST certificate.

Here are a few things to consider... Generally CA is considered to be a fairly progressive state in terms of cutting edge training and police academy education. I used to hear that almost every state would accept a CA cop as a lateral officer as CA cops were some of the best trained in the nation. Obviously some CA cop spread this rumor .

In all fairness CA training has been (and continues to be) far more advanced that many other states. When our academies were 26 weeks and more, some other academies are only 10 to 12 weeks long. So many of the "advanced" training topics offered in other states *AFTER* the basic police academy are part of the basic CA POST academies.

Of course having advanced training or a longer academy only means one of a few things. #1 it is out of necessity. As many of the crime problems across the nation started here in CA. We are cutting edge on spreading criminal street gangs, methamphetamine, and other negative criminal elements throughout the nation, so in turn we have been on the cutting edge (we had no choice).

Although most places will *PROBABLY* have some program in place to let a POST Certified academy graduate become certified in another state through an abbreviated process, not all offer this. You're unfortunately going to have to call each state you're interested in working. I know a lot of folks go to work for agencies in FL who are originally from NY and other states, so I would ASSUME they have a fairly friendly out of state certification process available. Same thing with TX. I've heard getting your TX certificate is easier as a currently certified CA POST graduate.

Some states won't care one way or another if you have a CA POST certificate. HI for example requires all officers to go through their academies. I don't know if this is till current, but last time I checked even an officer from within the state: Say a Hawaii County, Maui County, or other police officer in HI wanted to lateral over to Honolulu PD. They would have to go through the Honolulu PD police academy to get certified for hire. Remember these guys are officers in the same state!

Also keep in mind... Your CA POST academy graduation certificate is only good for 3 years from the date of graduation. If you don't get a peace officer job here in CA that will keep your certificate current, you'll be uncertified after 3 years. Then your only choice is to complete a re certification course (several weeks long) to get another 3 years on your certificate. If this re certification expires before you get a job, then it's back to the full academy to get it back.

I think using the GI Bill would be a great benefit while going through a CA (or ANY) police academy, but I don't think it's going to get you rated "best qualified" in and of itself. Most places will probably appreciate the fact you have successfully completed an academy and it will probably speed up your certification process (they can get you a waiver or some other equivalency certificate in much less time than sending you to their own full academy), but other than that I don't think it's going to help all that much without having any actual experience.

If you do come to CA and go through the police academy, I don't think you'll have a hard time finding a job out here. Many places are hiring. I last heard over 15,000 open police positions exist within the state. I think this estimate is a bit high, but who knows maybe there are 15k slots waiting to be filled.

Good luck!

Kahuna

Thank you for the advice...I'm gonna follow through with getting my CA POST Certification. I'll be taking the placement test (T score test?) on May 19th.