Training Unit
The Office of Professional Development (OPD) has the primary responsibility to ensure all police department employees meet applicable, legislated training requirements, and also have adequate training to perform their jobs effectively and efficiently. OPD conducts a wide range of training to ensure our personnel are some of the best-trained in the state of Washington. This includes annual in-service training in firearms, legal updates, high-liability policies (use of force and pursuit), bias-based policing, interaction with persons in crisis, blood-borne pathogens, heat injuries, and other health and safety topics. Additional training is done on a regular basis in areas dealing with control devices, first aid, limited-English-speaking persons, driver’s training, and more. OPD also acts as our department’s liaison with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC) in matters related to training, such as, the Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) for newly hired, entry-level police officers along with advanced instructor level courses for our various training cadre members.
