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Law Enforcement Training Academies
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As of yearend 2006, a total of 648 state and local law enforcement academies provided basic training to entry-level recruits in the United States.  Federal training academies and academies that provide only in-service training, corrections and detention training, or other special types of training were not included in these data.  These findings are based on the 2006 Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies (CLETA). 

Summary findings

  • Academies prepared trainees for a law enforcement career in a variety of settings.  Ninety-two percent of academies trained and certified recruits who were employed as local police officers.  Seventy percent of academies trained and certified sheriff’s deputies, 50% trained and certified campus police officers, 21% trained and certified state police or highway patrol officers, 16% trained and certified constables, 15% trained and certified tribal police officers, 15% trained and certified natural resource officers, and 14% trained and certified transportation police officers.
  • An estimated 57,000 recruits entered basic training programs during 2005.  Overall, 86% or about 49,000 of the 57,000 recruits who started basic training in 2005, completed training and graduated from the academy.
  • On average, academy training programs included 761 hours of classroom training (about 19 weeks).  A third of academies had an additional mandatory field training component with an average length of 453 hours.
  • State and local law enforcement training academies employed about 10,000 full-time instructors and 28,000 part-time instructors during 2006.  About two-fifths (39%) of full-time academy instructors were sworn officers permanently employed by, or permanently assigned to, the academy.
  • Academies’ operating expenditures averaged about $1.3 million.  The average amount spent per full-time equivalent employee was about $33,000, and about $16,000 spent per recruit who completed training in 2005.
  • Community policing instruction increased slightly, while sizable increases were observed in terrorism-related training from 2002 to 2006. In both 2002 and 2006, more than 90% of academies provided basic training on community policing topics.  Additionally, 90% of academies provided basic training on terrorism-related topics in 2006, up from 80% in 2002.

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