Training

BASIC ACADEMY

Agents must attend a POST Basic Academy. Recruits are generally sent to an academy within the jurisdiction of the district office that they are assigned to. If there are multiple academies within that jurisdiction, the agent will attend the academy that begins closest to their anticipated hire date.

FIELD TRAINING PROGRAM

The Field Training Program is generally three phases, with each phase lasting approximately one month. The first phase generally includes an agency orientation, classroom lecture, scenarios and shadowing their trainer in the field. In the second phase, the new agent will continue to observe their trainer while beginning to take on more responsibility during field work. During the third phase, the new agent will work as the primary officer while the trainer observes to ensure trainee can perform the job in a manner which keeps officer safety and public service paramount.

The field training program for lateral officers may be modified depending on the trainee’s demonstrated performance and level of experience.

The training for Northern Division district offices takes place in Sacramento, and the training for Southern division district offices takes place in Cerritos.