Please contact Marcia Cole, Director, if you are interested in any of the listed training programs or if you would like our center to customize a training course for your agency: 724-357-3987 or marciacole@iup.edu

Act 120 Basic Police Officer Training Program: Pre-Service Training

The IUP Criminal Justice Training Center administers the Act 120 Basic Police Officer Training Program at the following locations and schedules: Indiana University of Pennsylvania – Full-time schedule, and Pittsburgh Technical College – Full-time schedule, and  Part-time schedule. For further information contact Program Coordinator Jason Batistig at batistig@iup.edu or Thomas Rutowski at rutowsk@iup.edu 

2024 In-Service Training Programs:

Perceptual Driving Update

Per-Officer Course Fees

  • $240 per officer – Group rates available
  • $150 per officer, minimum of five officers

This course is 16 hours, provided for in-service officers as a refresher from the 2013 MPOETC Act 180 EVOC course. The course will reinforce the necessary skills and knowledge to prevent vehicle accidents or errors in judgment by the road patrol officer. This program will lower incidents of police vehicular accidents and may also lower municipal insurance premiums.

The instructor for this course is Officer Joe Gray of the Vandergrift Police Department. Officer Gray has been teaching this course for over 20 years and is well-known throughout the state for his dedication and expertise in this area.

MPOETC-approved course with 14 CLEE credit hours available.

Instructor Development Course Certification

Per-Officer Course Fee

  • $350

40-hour course

This course will certify the participants as MPOETC-approved Act 120 and Act 180 instructors. The course will provide attendees with the fundamentals of giving effective presentations, PowerPoint development, classroom management, assessment techniques, and lesson plan development. This course is taught by the CJTC Director Marcia Cole and Program Coordinator Tom Rutowski. Between these two instructors are over 20 years as MPOETC certified instructors and 40 years of police experience.

MPOETC-approved course with 40 CLEE credit hours available.

Municipal Police Training Officer Program

Per-Officer Course Fee

  • $275 for the first officer
  • $175 for any additional officer from the same department

Alternative to the (FTO) Field Training Officer 24-hour course

Locations:

  • Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Indiana, PA, or
  • Pittsburgh East Campus Monroeville, PA

We at the IUP-CJTC feel this course is part of the answer to various areas of concern for police agency CEOs. This timely training addresses the following areas for law enforcement: police legitimacy, cultural diversity, engagement of new officers, and developing an environment for career retention.

This course is equivalent to the FTO program and will permit the participants to train newly hired probationary officers to prepare them for sole-patrol officer assignments. This course was developed by the Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Problem-Solving section.

The program is founded on the Problem-Based Policing concept and trains the attendees how to create learning problems for probationary officers which engage them in solving police/community issues. The focus is on enhancing thinking skills of the trainee officer along with teaching essential policing tasks; e.g., traffic stops, domestic disputes, report writing, etc.

This course is taught by the IUP-CJTC Director Marcia Cole, John Lewis, and Program Coordinator Tom Rutowski. All instructors are veteran police officers, field training officers, and MPOETC-certified instructors. Lewis is also an IUP criminology professor and retired US Army Military Police first sergeant, and is an expert on policing issues.

This course has been approved by MPOETC approved with 24 CLEE credit hours available.

Act 67 Certification: School Security Personnel Basic Training 

Per-Officer Course Fee

  • $395

40-hour course

Next Session: Contact CJTC for training dates
Location: Online and In-person

This course has been approved by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and is mandated for the following school-based protective service positions: school security guard, school resource officer, and school police officer. The successful completion of this program will satisfy Act 67 certification, enabling the graduates to work in school-based law enforcement or security positions in Pennsylvania only.

This course will provide the participants with the essentials related to working as a school security personnel in the school environment; e.g., school law, the teen mind, drugs and school-aged children, cultural diversity, etc.

The instructors for this course are veteran school resource officers, police officers, and trainers. This course is delivered in two separate versions: in-person and online. Contact Director Marcia Cole for more information.

Act 235 Lethal Weapons Training

Per-Officer Course Fees

  • Full Course: $400 plus $30 registration fee
  • Recertification Course: $200 plus $30 registration fee

Full 40-hour Course and 8.5-hour Recertification Course

The Lethal Weapons Training, Act 235 provides certification to privately employed security agents to carry a lethal weapon. The Lethal Weapons training at IUP consists of academics, skills, and firearms training. The firearms training is with a handgun and shotgun. For an additional fee, patrol rifle can be added to the training as well. This course is approved through PSP.

Municipal Police Firearms Instructor Certification

Per-Officer Course Fee

  • $450

40-hour Course

This course will certify those in attendance as pistol and shotgun firearms instructors and permit them to qualify Act 120 cadets and in-service police officers on these weapons systems. This certification does not expire and does not require continuing education credits to maintain the certification. This course is taught by Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Jeremy Leasure and Retired El Paso County Deputy Sheriff Arturo Montoya. Between these two instructors are decades of instructor and policing experience. Both instructors are on the IUP-CJTC Act 120 faculty.

Principled Criminal Justice and Police Legitimacy

Per-Officer Course Fee

  • $40

8-hour Course

The course is based on material developed by John Jay College and the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. The student will gain knowledge on the principles of Procedural Justice, Community Policing, Implicit Bias, and other topics regarding the strengthening of community bonds with the Criminal Justice System.

Perceptual Driving Instructor - Emergency Vehicle Operator Course Instructor Certification

Per-Officer Course Fee

  • $425

40-hour Course

This course certifies the participants as EVOC instructors. The successful completion of this program permits the participants to train police officers in the standardized MPOETC-approved Emergency Vehicle Operations Course from the Act 120 Program. In addition, the officer who completes this course can train their own personnel in defensive driving operations, which reduces municipal insurance premiums and lowers incidents of patrol vehicular accidents.

The course instructor is Officer Joe Gray from the Vandergrift Police Department. Officer Gray has been teaching this course for over 20 years and is well-known throughout the state for his dedication and expertise in this area.

MPOETC-approved course with 35 CLEE credit hours available.