Training Requirements in the State of Georgia

Did You Know? That there are currently 52,547 officers employed in the State of Georgia as of February 16, 2004

The Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (GA P.O.S.T)

The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) was established in 1970 by the Georgia General Assembly as a regulatory body. The composition of the Council, its power, and function is established in Title 35 Chapter 8 of the Official Code of Georgia, Annotated. The Council is responsible for the certification and regulation of Georgia's peace officers and other various public safety personnel. Additionally, POST is responsible for establishing the minimum training standards and curriculum of the personnel certified by the agency.

The Georgia Peace Officer

By statutory definition, a peace officer is any person who is vested expressly either by law or by virtue of public employment or service with authority to enforce the criminal or traffic laws through power of arrest and whose duties include the preservation of public order, the protection of life and property, and the prevention, detection or investigation of crimes.

State officers such as the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the Georgia Department of Corrections, deputy sheriffs, county police, municipal police, and campus police are a few of the many examples of peace officers. Additionally, the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council also has a statutory responsibility to certify non-peace officers such as communications officers and detention officers.

Before POST will certify a candidate as a peace officer, the candidate must meet certain minimum standards for employment. These requirements are outlined in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated 35-8-8.

What is Georgia Annotated 35-8-8

35-8-8. Requirements for appointment or certification of persons as peace officers; certification of applicants possessing special skills in training and handling of police dogs.

(a) Any person employed or certified as a peace officer shall:

(1) Be at least 18 years of age;

(2) Be a citizen of the United States;

(3) Have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent;

(4) Not have been convicted by any state or by the federal government of any crime the punishment for which could have been imprisonment in the federal or state prison or institution nor have been convicted of sufficient misdemeanors to establish a pattern of disregard for the law, provided that, for purposes of this paragraph, violations of traffic laws and other offenses involving the operation of motor vehicles when the applicant has received a pardon shall not be considered;

(5) Be fingerprinted for the purpose of conducting a fingerprint based search at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine the existence of any criminal record;

(6) Possess good moral character as determined by investigation under procedure established by the council;

(7) Have an oral interview with the hiring authority or its representative to determine the applicant's appearance, background, and ability to communicate;

(8) Be found, after examination by a licensed physician or surgeon, to be free from any physical, emotional, or mental conditions which might adversely affect his exercising the powers or duties of a peace officer; and

(9) Successfully complete a job related academy entrance examination provided for and administered by the council in conformity with state and federal law. Such examination shall be administered prior to entrance to the basic course provided for in Code Sections 35-8-9 and 35-8-11. The council may change or modify such examination and shall establish the criteria for determining satisfactory performance on such examination. Peace officers who do not perform satisfactorily on the examination shall be ineligible to retake such examination for a period of six months after an unsuccessful attempt. The provisions of this paragraph establish only the minimum requirements of academy entrance examinations for peace officer candidates in this state; each law enforcement unit is encouraged to provide such additional requirements and any preemployment examination as it deems necessary and appropriate.

(b) Any person authorized to attend the basic training course prior to employment as a peace officer shall meet the requirements of this Code section with the exception of paragraph (7) of subsection (a) of this Code section.

All information is courtesy of www.gapost.org