Through a partnership with Rockland Community College, the Rockland County Police and Public Safety Academy offers the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Service Pre-Employment Police Basic Course.
The Pre-Employment Police Basic Course (pre-employment) is the first of the two-phase program that leads to a recruit obtaining a certificate of completion for a course equivalent to the Basic Course for Police Officers. This is an alternative to the conventional manner of entering the Basic Course for Police Officers. The basic police training is completed in two distinct components. It provides interested persons with the opportunity to begin preparation for a career as a police officer prior to being hired by a law enforcement agency. As a further benefit, the program provides law enforcement agencies and municipalities with a diverse pool of trained police officer candidates.
Through this program, civilians may apply to attend the Academy as recruits. Pre-Employment Recruits attend nearly all the sections of instruction that employed recruits attend except some specific weapons training and topics that are restricted to sworn law-enforcement officers only. Pre-Employment Recruits receive 12 college credits for their academy training.
Frequently Asked Questions
Police Academy classes account for 12 transferable Criminal Justice credits:
- CRJ 10100 – Intro to Criminal Justice (3 credits)
- CRJ 10200 – Intro to Policing (3 credits)
- Two Criminal Justice Electives (6 credits)
Please apply here first. Once approved, you will be redirected to apply on the RCC admissions website.
Civilians may attend the first phase of training – the Pre-Employment Police Basic Training Course. Recruits must:
- Be citizens of the United States of America or lawfully residing within the United States of America.
- Not have been convicted of a felony.
- The candidates should possess either a high school diploma or a General Education Diploma (GED).
The program is just under six months long. Typically, the Basic Course for Police Officers is run twice annually with one session starting in February and another starting in August. Application periods for each class are open for several weeks about three months prior to the class start date, however the Academy runs based on needs of police departments and the start/end dates are subject to change.
The number of spots available for Pre-Employment Recruits varies based on the number of spots that law enforcement agencies reserve. Some classes have several Pre-Employment spots, others do not have any.
After appointment, a recruit who has successfully completed the Pre-Employment Police Basic Training Course must complete the second component, which includes the three remaining units of the Basic Course for Police Officers, including, but not limited to:
- Counter-Terrorism for Recruit Police Officers;
- Firearms Training;
- Supervised Field Training Review and Orientation.
In addition, each recruit must be presented Impact Device Training and Testing for at least eight hours.
To achieve a full New York State Basic Police Certification, that lasts for two years after graduation a Phase One Recruit must:
- be hired by an agency authorized to field police officers and
- return to any police academy that offers the “Phase Two” Course and
- successfully complete Field Training
The tuition & fees information is listed on the Student Accounts page.
If you are a Volunteer Fire Fighter or EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Personnel in good standing and meet the minimum qualifications, the County of Rockland can help pay for your tuition via the EDGES program. For more information, please contact Kathleen Graziano at [email protected].
If you are looking to apply for Financial Aid and need more information, please contact [email protected].
If you are a veteran, please contact the Coordinator of Judicial and Veterans Affairs, Jonathan Barnwell at [email protected] about the GI Bill benefits.
For more information about the Rockland County Police and Public Safety Academy, please visit the Rockland County Police and Public Safety Academy site.