Regional Law Enforcement Academy

The Regional Law Enforcement Academy provides basic and advanced training services for law enforcement agencies. These classes are held in rural West Texas and provide training to these agencies at their agency or at a nearby location.

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Basic Peace Officer Course

Presently the academy is teaching the basic peace officer course at night. Starting January 17, 2000, the academy will present the course day time.  The day course will be 8am-5pm Monday through Friday for 14 weeks.  This course is held at the academy classroom in Lubbock, Texas. This course is divided into three sections:

Section I - TCLEOSE Course #1002, consisting of 228 hours.
After completing this section the student may take the state test for Reserves. Upon passing this test the person will be certified as a basic reserve officer.

Section II - TCLEOSE Course #1003, consisting of 190 hours.

Section III - TCLEOSE Course #1004, consisting of 142 hours.

A student may enroll in any section; however, all three sections (560 hours) must be completed to be eligible for basic peace officer examination.

54th Basic Peace Officer Course

    Section I
        Convenes January 10, 2000 - Completes April 21, 2000
        The class will meet 6 p.m. - 10 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
        The class will meet on four Saturdays 8 am - 5 p.m., for firearms training, dates not yet set
        Total clock hours: 228        Tuition cost: $300.00

Entry-Level Requirements
Basic Peace Officer Course

The Law Enforcement Training Committee of the South Plains Association of Governments sets the entry requirements for every trainee to attend the Basic Peace Officer Course.  The requirements include the sections of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education minimum standards for licensing.

An applicant for the 560-hour Basic Peace Officer course shall:

1. Take and pass a test administered by the Academy staff, which measures the reading and comprehension skills.  A minimum score of 12.2 must be obtained for acceptance;

2. Be sponsored by a Texas public law enforcement agency;

3. Be fingerprinted by the sponsoring agency and the fingerprint card must be sent to DPS, Austin, by the applicant;

4. Be subjected to a search of local, state, and national records and fingerprint files to disclose any criminal record;

5. Must be 21 years of age, or 18 years of age if the applicant has received an associate's degree or 60 semester hours of credit from an accredited college or university, or has received an honorable discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States after at least two years of active service;

6. Not be on court-ordered community supervision or probation for any criminal offense above the grade of Class C misdemeanor;

7. Not have been convicted of a misdemeanor offense above the grade of a Class C misdemeanor within the last five years;

8. Not have been ever convicted at any time of a felony offense;

9. Not have ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony offense or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for a misdemeanor or felony offense, if the offense directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of any office requiring such a license.  In determining whether  a criminal offense directly relates to such office, the commission shall, under this subsection, consider:
   a. the nature and seriousness of the crime;
   b. the relationship of the crime to the purpose for requiring a license for such office;
   c. the extent to which a license might offer an opportunity to engage in further criminal activity      of the same type as that in which the person had previously been involved; and
   d. the crime's relationship to the ability, capacity, or fitness required to perform the duties and      discharge the responsibilities of such office;

10. Be of good moral character;

11. Be subjected to a thorough, comprehensive background investigation, and be interviewed prior to enrollment by representatives of the sponsoring authority;

12. Meet one of the following minimum educational requirements:
    
    a.  Must be a high school graduate;
    b.  Have passed a general educational development (GED) test indicating high school                graduation level; or
    c.  Have 12-semester hour's credit from an accredited college or university

13. Be examined by a licensed physician and be declared in writing before the beginning date of the Basic Peace Officer Academy:
    
    a.  To be physically sound and free from any defect which may adversely affect the performance of duty appropriate to a law enforcement officer;
    b.  To show no trace of drug dependency or illegal drug use after a physical examination, blood test, or other medical test;

14. Be examined by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist and be declared in writing by that professional before the beginning date of the Basic Officer Course to be in satisfactory psychological and emotional health appropriate to the type of license sought and appointment to be made.  The examination must be conducted pursuant to professionally recognized standards and methods, must be administered by an experienced professional who is a:
    
    a.  Licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, selected by the requesting Academy;
    b.  Licensed physician recognized under exceptional circumstances; or
    c.  Qualified psychologist exempt from license by the Psychologist Certification and Licensing Act, Section 22, who is recognized under exceptional circumstances;

15.  Not have been discharged from any military service under less than honorable conditions including specifically:
    
    a.  Under other than honorable conditions;
    b.  Bad conduct;
    c.  Dishonorable; or
    d.  Any other characterization of service indicating bad character.

16.  Not have had a commission license denied by final order or revoked, or have a voluntary surrender of license currently in effect;

17. Meet the minimum training standards and pass the commission licensing examination for each license sought;

18. Not violate any commission rule or provision of Texas Government Code annotated, Chapter 415.
    
    a.  A person who fails to comply with the standards set forth in this section shall not accept the issuance of a license and shall not accept appointment as an officer or jailer.
    
    b.  For the purposes of this section, the commission will construe any court-ordered community supervision, probation, or conviction for a criminal offense to be its closest equivalent under the Texas Penal Code classification of offenses, if the offense arose from:
    
    1.  Another penal provision of Texas law; or
    2.  A penal provision of any other state, federal, military, or foreign jurisdiction.
    
    c.  A classification of an offense as a felony at the time of conviction will never be changed because Texas law has changed or because the offense would not be a felony under current Texas laws.
    
    d.  The effective date of this section is December 1, 1996.

Other Information

A person who fails to comply with the standards set forth in this document shall not be eligible to attend the Basic Peace Officer Course.

In addition to the above requirements, the trainee must authorize the release of the above information by the agency sponsoring the applicant to the South Plains Association of Governments as a condition of admission to the Academy.

The sponsoring law enforcement agency must certify that all requirements have been met, and that the applicant is currently employed by the agency, or is eligible to be commissioned as a regular peace officer or reserve officer upon completion of the required training and licensing by TCLEOSE.

The requirements place no obligation upon the sponsoring agency to employ or commission the trainee upon completion of the Academy training.

A majority of classes will be held at the academy building at 58th Street and Avenue P, in Lubbock.  However, several classes will be held at other locations.   Some travel may be required. 

Included in the tuition are required books.

Other approximate costs for the student:

Pre-Entry Test
(needed to be admitted in Academy)    

The free of charge pre-entry test will be given on an individual basis.  Call Lisa to set up date and time.  The test will take approximately one hour to complete.  You may take the test only once for each section.  The applicant must pass the pre-entry test with a score of 70 or better to receive the Academy application packet.  A $100 deposit is required upon passing pre-entry test

All test will be taken at the SPAG Office building located at 58th Street and Avenue P, Lubbock, Texas.

Tuition must be paid one week before class begins. 

Uniforms are required and information will be given to you in class.

To pre-register in any of these courses or for further information, please call Bob
Watson, Alton Hobbs or Lisa Herrera at (806) 762-8721 or 1-800-858-1809

Please send your comments to SPAG here.
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