Training and Certification Bureau
The Training and Certification Bureau oversees the Training Unit and Certification Unit. These units are responsible for organizing and providing all the necessary training for our officers and maintaining our department’s policies and procedures to adhere to State and National accreditation standards.
Training Unit
The University of Georgia Police Department’s Training Unit is responsible for providing and facilitating training for Police Department personnel.
All new officers are required by law to attend a 408-hour training course at one of the state’s training academies. Officers who successfully complete this course obtain basic police officer certification.
After graduating the academy or arriving from another agency, all new University of Georgia Police officers participate in the Police Training Officer program. This program allows new officers to focus on their learning capacity and problem solving skills to help them perform their duties and responsibilities in an efficient and effective manner.
Throughout the program, contemporary evaluation techniques such as Problem-Based Learning Exercises, Weekly Coaching and Training Reports, and Neighborhood Portfolio Exercises are used to produce training program graduates who are capable of providing community-focused police services to the citizens they serve.
In addition to the training received by new officers, Georgia law requires each certified officer to obtain a minimum of 20 hours of training each year. Officers receive these hours through monthly in-service training within the department, and outside the department through training opportunities available at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center and elsewhere.
Certification Unit
The University of Georgia Police Department’s Certification Unit is a component of the Bureau of Training and Certification and is primarily responsible for the management and oversight of the agency’s Standard Operating Procedures. In addition to overseeing updates to departmental policy, the Certification Unit collects proofs to meet State Certification standards set forth by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police to ensure that departmental policies and personnel are meeting professional best practices. The Certification Unit also plans yearly departmental in-service training to meet State training standards and to provide officers with the yearly training hours required to maintain their law enforcement certification. The Certification Unit is officially composed of an Administrative Sergeant but relies heavily on the involvement and contributions from every member of the agency to provide the proofs needed to meet certification standards.
