The Clark State College Basic Peace Officer Training Academy is accepting applications for the evening class session beginning in May. The application deadline is Friday, April 14.
The Academy is designed to meet the requirements of the Ohio Police Officer Training Council (OPOTC) and is offered in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, the State of Ohio, and OPOTC. Successful graduates of this program will be recommended to take the state certification examination. Successful graduates also have the opportunity to earn college credit towards a Clark State's Criminal Justice degree.
Basic Peace Officer Training topics include administration, legal, human relations, firearms, driving, traffic, investigation, patrol, traffic enforcement, civil disorders, defensive tactics, first aid, homeland security and physical conditioning. Additional certificates may be earned for pepper spray and taser.
The January graduates of the Clark State Police Academy achieved a 100 percent pass rate on the State Certification Exam (SCE) bringing Clark State up to an overall 97 percent pass rate since 2015.
“This is an outstanding achievement,” said Paul Weber, commander of the Clark State Police Academy. “This improvement is directly related to the quality academy instructors serving on our staff. We will continue to set our goal to improve those numbers as we look towards the future with law enforcement training.”
After completing the Clark State Police Academy training and successfully passing all Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission requirements (academic, practical and physical fitness), a cadet is qualified to take the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) SCE. The SCE is a 2.5-hour test compiled of 200 questions based on 800 performance objectives.
After passing the exam, the graduate is then qualified to be an Ohio certified peace officer.
Formal class meetings for the Academy are held on the Clark State campus or at a satellite location. The next evening academy begins in May with classes from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. All academies include multiple weekends with certain training events held off-site.
Interested students should visit Clark State’s Police Academy office in the Brinkman Educational Center in downtown Springfield to pick up and complete the required OPOTA application and other required forms. A candidate is then required to pass a physical assessment test, a physical, a drug screen and be finger-printed for a BCI background check at the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.