Training Division
Sgt. Jerry Cooley

Illinois police officers usually begin their career by obtaining their police academy certification. The Illinois police academies are (400) four hundred hours or (480) four hundred eighty hours. These academies are either 10 or 12- week programs. There isn’t a difference between the 10 and 12- week certifications. A person/officer is not certified to work the streets as a police officer, until he has obtained the police officer academy certification. If a person has obtained an Illinois certification through an Illinois Correction Academy, this does not waive the Illinois Police academy. These academies are completely different academies.

Illinois Police Academies

There are only (5) five Illinois police academies that an officer may attend and receive an Illinois police officer certification.

1. Cook County Sheriff’s Training Institute, Police Academy, Palos Hills,
Illinois
2. Police Training Institute (PTI), Springfield, Illinois
3. Southwestern Police Academy, Belleville, Illinois
4. Suburban Law Enforcement Academy, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
5. Timothy J. O’Connor Education and Training Center, Chicago, Illinois

The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards board requires all Illinois police academies follow the “Illinois Basic Police Training Curriculum”. The board requires that all recruits receive a certain amount of training hours in many different police training areas. The board provides the following curriculum:

Illinois Basic Police Training Curriculum 400 hours

Administrative Units 400-hour

§ Academy Director’s Administrative Time 2
§ Course Orientation 2
§ Examinations 10
§ Critiques and Instructional Evaluation 5
§ Graduation 2

Subtotal 21

Law

§ Case Preparation and Courtroom Testimony 4
§ Civil Rights and Civil Liability 2
§ Criminal Offenses in Illinois 14
§ Illinois Vehicle Code and Bail Rule 18
§ Juvenile Law and Processing 8
§ Laws of Admission 2
§ Laws of Arrest, Search and Seizure 16
§ Rights of the Accused 2
§ Rules of Evidence 3
§ Use of Force 4

Subtotal 73

The Police Function and Human Behavior

§ Child Abuse 2
§ Communication in the Police Environment 8
§ Crisis Intervention/Disturbance Calls 6
§ Crowd Behavior 4
§ Dealing with Variant Behavior 4
§ Domestic Violence 4
§ Gangs 2
§ Police Citizen Relations 6
§ Police Ethics 4

Subtotal 40

Patrol

§ Crimes in Progress 7
§ Crime Prevention 1
§ Drug Enforcement 4
§ Fundamentals of Report Writing 12
§ Homeland Security Orientation 1
§ Patrol Procedures 14
§ Vehicle Stops and Occupant Control 12

Subtotal 51

Patrol Investigation

§ Crimes Against Persons 5
§ Crimes Against Property 2
§ Crime Scene Identification 12
§ Custody Arrest, Booking, and Detention Facility Procedures 2
§ Fingerprinting – Rolled Impressions 2
§ Fundamentals of Investigations 6
§ Identification Procedures 1
§ Interview and Interrogation 4
§ Motor Vehicle Theft 4
§ Service Calls 2

Subtotal 40

Traffic

§ Field Sobriety Testing 24
§ Hazardous Materials 8
§ Traffic Crash Investigation 16
§ Traffic Direction 1

Subtotal 49

Police Proficiency
§ Control and Arrest Tactics 32
§ Firearms: Orientation and Safety 2
§ Firearms: Weapon Care and Maintenance 2
§ Firearms: Training 12
§ Firearms: Night Shooting 4
§ Firearms: Shotgun 4
§ Firearms: Record Firing 4
§ Firearms: Decision Making and Situational Shooting 8
§ Initial Medical Response 18
§ Law Enforcement Driving 12
§ Physical Skills and Personal Fitness 24
§ Tactical Communications Exercise 4

Subtotal 126

Basic Police Training Curriculum Total Hours 400

Integrated Exercises (Expanded Curriculum Only) 40

Course Enrichment (Expanded Curriculum Only) 40

Expanded Curriculum Total Hours 480

The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board

Illinois Police Applicants

Once an officer has completed an Illinois police academy and passed the State of Illinois certification exam, he is a certified Illinois police officer. It would not be necessary for him to attend another Illinois police academy, if another Illinois police department later hires him. The board maintains all Illinois police officers certifications.

“Out of State of Illinois” Applicants

A person that desires to become an Illinois police officer and is certified as a police officer in another state, may be hired as an Illinois police officer, however there are restrictions. First an Illinois police department must hire the officer. The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board will review the officer’s prior training records and police academy training. The board will determine if the “out of state officers” training and academy will be sufficient to waive the Illinois police academy.

If the board does not waive the Illinois police academy, the officer will have to complete the entire Illinois police academy. If the board does waive the Illinois police academy the officer will only be required to complete certain mandatory training to become a certified Illinois police officer. If the officer has the Illinois academy waived, usually he will only be required to complete a (40) forty hour Illinois criminal law police course, mandatory firearms course and other courses to certify or re-certify him in certain fields.

All waiver candidates must pass a 200-question equivalence exam with a passing score of at least 70%. If all of the requirements are not met, the officer will be required to attend the full Illinois basic academy.

Police / Continuing Educational Training

Once an officer is certified by the State of Illinois, he is required to obtain continuing educational training. There are (3) three certain training sessions that are required annually for all Illinois police officers. These training sessions are firearm qualifications, hazardous materials training and blood borne pathogens.

There are many other training topics and sessions that may become “mandatory training” throughout the year. The police departments usually have mandatory training such as new laws, or law updates. Officers usually receive CPR certification bi-annually.

The Alton police administration selects certain officers to obtain a variety of select training. There are many reasons to have selected officers specially trained in certain fields. Some officers may desire the selected training, while other officers may not want to be trained in that particular field.

There are specialty divisions, which include the Investigations, Traffic, Support Services, Training, Information Technology Officers, DARE Officers, School Resource Officers, Crime Prevention Officers, Telecommunications and Crisis Intervention Team Officers. These officers usually obtain many special training sessions to enable themselves to be productive in their divisions. Sometimes the officers may have new or updated training, in that there are new laws and or changed laws. These officers usually maintain the communication highway to the patrol officers, with law changes and updates.

Many training areas do not require all officers to be trained in that particular field. There are many fields that only require a certain amount of officers to be trained in these particular areas, therefore some officers on each patrol shift will maintain the certification in these selected fields.

A few of these areas would be: Breath Alcohol Analyzer Operator, Crisis Intervention Team Training, Juvenile training, Hostage Negotiations, Defensive Tactic Instructors, Tactical Team training and Telecommunications.
There are many more specialty training sessions, however there are far too many to mention.

The Breath Alcohol Analyzers’ must attend a (28) twenty-eight hour class to be certified, and they must be re-certified every three years. The Crisis Intervention Team officers, Hostage Negotiators and Juvenile Officers’
attend a (40) forty- hour training to obtain certification in each field.

There are many training sessions and agendas that officers can request from their department. Some of these training sessions may be taught several times a year in different locations throughout Illinois. Some training may only occur annually. Some training sessions may be held only for special occasions. Some of these training agendas would include; Crime Scene investigations, Search and Seizure, Law updates and Firearm training.

Many traffic officers obtain special traffic crash courses. These courses include; Traffic Crash Scene Investigations, Technical Crash Investigator courses, Vehicle Dynamics and Traffic Crash Reconstructions and Advance Radar training.

The Investigators usually attend special courses that include; Homicide investigations, Blood Splatter courses, Advance Crime Scene Investigations, St. Louis Major Case Squad membership and training, Medicolegal Death Investigation, Tactical Team training, Search and Seizure, Interview and Interrogation techniques, Criminal Law up-dates and Fraud investigations.

Field Training and Evaluation Program

An important part of the training program is the Field Training Officer program. There is a specific program that all new hires are assigned and must complete. The Field Training Officers (FTO’s) are the Street police officers that agree to train the new recruits which recently graduated from the police academy. The FTO’s follow a training outline for each week that a recruit is assigned to them. With assigned weekly training, each recruit will receive the assigned training during their training program, even when they are transferred to a different FTO. Each recruit will receive the same assigned weekly training, even when several different FTO’s are used for training recruits.

Once a recruit graduates from the academy, the recruit will be assigned to a FTO for (16) sixteen weeks. Each recruit will have a minimum of two different FTO’s. The recruit will be assigned to one FTO for the first (8) eight weeks, then he will be transferred to a different FTO for the second
(8) eight week period. The FTOs evaluate their assigned recruit each week.
The recruit will work with the FTO on the streets for a minimum of sixteen weeks, before the recruit may start working the streets as a solo patrol officer.

Weekly Evaluation Reports

Recruits will be rated in each of these categories during each week, that they are assigned to a FTO:
1. Field Performance: Stress and Non Stress Conditions
2. Officer Safety: General / Suspect / Prisoner
3. Control of Conflict: Verbal / Physical
4. Orientation Skills: Stress and Non Stress
5. Driving Skills: Stress and Non Stress
6. Report Writing: Grammar / Neatness / Spelling / Organization / Details /
Time
7. Self Initiated Field Activity
8. Problem Solving / Decision Making Ability
9. Investigative Skills
10. Station / Desk Operations
11. Radio / Use of Codes / Procedures / Comprehends and Articulation of
Transmissions
12. Departmental Policies and Procedures
13. State Criminal Statues and Local Ordinances
14. State Vehicle Statues
15. Criminal Procedure: Arrest / Search / Seizures
16. Use of Reference Manuals
17. Attitude Toward Police Work
18. Acceptance of Feedback
19. General Appearance
20. Dependability / Punctuality
21. Relationships with Citizens
22. Relationships with Supervisors
23. Relationships with other Law Enforcement Personnel

Taser

The one training device that most people usually asks questions about would be the Taser. The Taser unit has become a very useful and productive tool for the law enforcement community. The Alton Police officers carry the Taser X26.

The Taser is a “less lethal option” for officers. During the taser training the officers will receive technology overview and hands-on training.

The Taser is a “Conducted Energy Weapon” used to override the person’s central nervous system. The Taser does not rely on pain compliance (the sensory nervous system) to achieve compliance. Conducted Energy Weapons use propelled wires to conduct energy that affects the sensory and motor functions of the central nervous system. The Taser is able to cause “Electro Muscular Disruption” which is described as affecting both the sensory and motor nervous systems.

Some people question the high voltage of the Taser. The Taser has high voltage and low amperage. The Taser X26 has an electrical output of 50,000 volts and 2.1mA (0.0021 Amps). It’s the amps that determine the safety not the volts. The high voltage does not cause the danger to persons. The voltage is a measure of how far an arc of electricity can travel through the air.

The amperage of the Taser is well below the safe limits. Pacemakers withstand electrical defibrillators that are several hundred times stronger than the Taser conducted energy pulses. Defibrillators have 150.00 – 400.00 Joules (energy per pulse), while the Taser X26 has 0.36 Joules. Pacemakers and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators are designed to withstand the extremely high energy (360 joules) shocks delivered by external defibrillators.

The Alton police officers have Taser policies and procedures that must be followed. One of the policies that surprise some of the citizens is that all Alton officers must receive a “mandatory exposure” of the Taser. “Mandatory exposure” means that the officers receive a Taser “shock exposure” by a Taser Instructor. This exposure causes the officers to better understand the effects of the Taser.

If you have any questions about the Alton Illinois Police Training Department please contact:

Sgt. Jerry Cooley
618.463.3505 ext 278
618.463.3502