Rule 24 – Skills Training Safety and Skills Program
Requirements for Basic and Reserve Academies
Effective January 31, 2016

(a)	For ALL skills training programs:  arrest control, law enforcement driving and firearms.

(I)	A daily schedule is required.

(A)	The daily schedule shall be in addition to the lesson plan requirement of Rule 21, Basic and Reserve Training Academies.

(B)	The daily schedule shall contain the information described in each of the skills training programs:  Arrest Control Training Program, Law Enforcement Driving Program, and Firearms Training Program.

(C)	The format, number of pages and organization of information on the daily schedule(s) shall be at the discretion of the primary skills instructor and/or academy director.

(II)	Written daily attendance records are required.

(A)	Written attendance records for all dates of skills training shall be maintained for all trainees enrolled in the skills training program AND for all skills instructors who teach any portion of the skills training program; and

(B)	Attendance records shall be accurate and up-to-date and must be available during POST inspections of the skills program in progress.

(III)	Site safety plans are required.

(A)	Each site of skills training must have an up-to-date and approved written site safety plan present on site during any academy training at the site; and

(B)	All academy staff members, instructors and trainees shall be familiar with the content of each site safety plan as it pertains to the nature and scope of their involvement with the academy.

(IV)	For all hours of all skills training programs, except as specified in (b)(VII), 100% attendance and participation are mandatory.

(V)	There must be at least one full skills instructor present at the site of instruction for each skills training session, excluding lecture-only sessions conducted in a classroom setting.

(VI)	Successful completion is required.

(A)	For the Arrest Control Training Program and the Law Enforcement Driving Program, the minimum requirement for successful completion is seventy percent (70%); and

(1)	Each academy may apply a higher standard for successful completion of any portion of the skills training program that is greater than seventy percent (70%); and

(2)	If such a higher standard is applied, the higher standard must be described in the respective skills lesson plan and in the Trainee Manual.
	
(B)	For the Firearms Training Program, the mandatory minimum requirement for successful completion shall be one hundred percent (100%).

(b)	Arrest control training.

(I)	There must be at least one arrest control instructor for every ten (10) trainees (i.e., 1:10 ratio) during any practicum or lab session.

(II)	No practicum or lab session may exceed eight (8) hours in any one-day.

(III)	Mats or mat coverings must be serviceable and cleaned on a regular basis and immediately before use with an appropriate cleansing agent and/or disinfectant.

(IV)	Only those arrest control disciplines that have been reviewed and approved as recognized disciplines for arrest control training are acceptable instruction for the Arrest Control Training Program.

(V)	Each academy shall ensure that all arrest control instructors maintain current certification for the academy’s arrest control discipline in accordance with the standards for recertification, if any, of the recognized discipline for arrest control training.

(VI)	All students must successfully complete a skills test out and written examination in accordance with the discipline being taught.  If the program does not have a student test out then each student at a minimum must successfully complete the arrest control skills test as used in the provisional/renewal of certification process.

(VII)	All students must attend 100% of the required sixty-two (62) hours of Arrest Control Training and no less than 95% of the hours of any course exceeding the established sixty-two hour requirement.

(VIII)	All academy Arrest Control Training programs must be comprised of at least 60% lab hours.  Lab hours are defined as any hands-on skills training.

(c)	Law enforcement driving training.

(I)	There must be at least one driving track vehicle and one law enforcement driving instructor for every six (6) trainees (i.e., 1:6 ratio) during any instruction at the track.

(II)	No track exercise and/or practicum may exceed twelve (12) hours in any 24-hour period.

(III)	Academy directors shall ensure that no trainee be permitted to participate in a law enforcement driving program unless the trainee possesses a valid driver’s license.

(IV)	There must be at least one (1) fully charged five (5) pound size or larger, dry chemical, Class ABC fire extinguisher on site during any instruction at the track.

(V)	Prior to receiving any nighttime Law Enforcement Driving Program instruction at the track, each trainee shall receive a minimum of twelve (12) hours of daylight driving instruction at the track.

(d)	Firearms training.

(I)	There must be at least one firearms instructor for every four (4) trainees enrolled in the academy program (i.e., 1:4 ratio) anytime a trainee is handling an operable firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, at any location, including in the classroom and at the range, except as noted in the following paragraph (III).  This 1:4 instructor to student ratio shall not include the instructor running the range exercise.  For live fire tactical exercises, drills, and dim light shooting that requires movement, the instructor to student ratio shall be 1:4 with an emphasis on the four (4) rules of firearms safety.

(II)	No range exercise and/or lab session may exceed eight (8) hours in any one day.

(III)	For all decisional shooting scenarios, there must be an instructor to student ratio of 1:1.

(IV)	Only POST approved firearms instructors and not agency trained safety officers may be utilized to satisfy the minimum ratios of firearms instructors to trainees.

(V)	Prior to receiving any dim light firearms instruction at the range, each trainee shall receive a minimum of forty (40) hours of Firearms Training Program instruction, to include at least eight (8) hours of classroom lecture and thirty-two (32) hours of daylight live range instruction.

(VI)	Only high-visibility, fluorescent colored “dummy” ammunition may be used for any weapons handling other than actual live fire shooting.

(VII)	Trainees must be provided written and oral reminders over the course of the training of the four (4) rules of firearms safety:

(A)	All weapons must be treated as if they are always loaded; and

(B)	Never let the muzzle of a weapon point at anything you are not willing to destroy; and

(C)	Keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger guard until the sights are on the target and you are prepared to shoot; and

(D)	Always be certain of the target and beyond.

(VIII)	All trainees must be familiar with the four (4) rules of firearms safety prior to handling any operable firearm.

(IX)	Firearms ranges must display some type of visual notification (range flag, signs, lights, or other) whenever the range is being utilized for live fire.

(X)	Each trainee must fire a minimum of one thousand and five hundred (1,500) live rounds of handgun ammunition in a single weapons system, revolver or semi-automatic, before completing the program.