Flagstaff, Coconino County and Northern Arizona University officials and law enforcement team with Coconino Community College to create the High Country Training Academy to keep the training of recruits local and affordable. Courtesy photo.
FLAGSTAFF — They will undergo drills and inspections. They will take classes and be put under extreme stress.
The purpose: To achieve a level of professionalism in policing that meets the needs of the communities of northern Arizona. Beginning Oct. 3, 13 recruits will undergo 21 weeks of training at the newly established High Country Training Academy at Coconino Community College.
“CCC’s goal is to partner with the local community to train people who live in Coconino County for jobs in Coconino County,” said Dr. Nate Southerland, Provost for CCC. “We are so grateful to our local law enforcement agencies for being the driving force behind this new program and providing the personnel needed to make it successful.”
Southerland also said that with CCC and local agencies working together, they can generate new interest in law enforcement careers and keep the community’s talent in the community.
Flagstaff Police Department Chief Dan Musselman said that the academy provides several advantages to law enforcement in northern Arizona.
“Having our recruits here locally is important,” Musselman said, adding that the recruits can live in their own homes, and they can keep their families and support systems in place. They are also trained by officers who serve locally and know local community needs.
Importantly, sponsoring agencies for the recruits will be saving a considerable amount of money while no longer having to struggle to find placements for their recruits out of the community. Musselman said that the average amount the city must spend to send a recruit to an academy outside of the community is about $10,000 for lodging and the academy. Southerland said the cost at CCC, much of which can be offset by grants from the Arizona@Work statewide workforce development network, is about $4,000 for all 24 credit hours of the academy.
Greg Clifton, Flagstaff City Manager said that the academy guarantees local candidates and avoids the logistical entanglements of trying to find them spots at other academies in the state.
“We’ve been talking about a facility like this for some time,” Clifton said.
County Manager Steve Peru said that the partnerships among the agencies in northern Arizona are unique to the area to best serve communities here, including the tribal communities.
CCC Interim President Christal M. Albrecht said the law enforcement academy is part of a wider effort being focused on by local officials at the state Legislature to create a Public Safety training facility in northern Arizona to function as a hub for the training needs of the area – law enforcement, fire services and emergency services.
NAUPD Chief Melissa Freshour said the focus, as well, is upon recruitment.
“All of us in law enforcement have been struggling with recruiting,” Freshour said, adding that a local academy for recruits could help alleviate some of the challenges, while providing yet another opportunity for NAU and CCC to partner.
Sheriff Driscoll said, “To keep them here to train them guarantees a benefit economically.”
Driscoll added that in the 1970s, there was a Flagstaff Police Academy that worked out of the National Guard Armory, but when training was standardized statewide, all academies were transferred down south.
The academy at CCC has a capacity of 24 recruits per session, and there will be two sessions each year that start “off season” to other academies in the state, Southerland said. Initially, recruits will be referred from the partner agencies in northern Arizona, but eventually, it will be opened to recruits statewide. All recruits for the academy will have to be hired by a law enforcement agency and be sponsored to the academy. Instructors, who must meet Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training and Higher Learning Commission requirements, will be supplied from the Flagstaff Police Department, the NAU Police Department and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office. Recruits who complete the academy receive 24 college credits for their efforts that can be applied to an associate degree.
FPD Sgt. Nicholas Jacobellis, lead instructor during the academy, said each recruit must have at least 663 hours of training to be AZPOST certified, and the Flagstaff academy will include a total of 832 hours. The additional hours of instruction will include coursework on issues important in northern Arizona, such as Search and Rescue and Cultural Sensitivity training.
After the academy, recruits will test for certification, and when they pass, they go back to the agencies that hired them to begin field training, Jacobellis added. All recruits must be 21 years of age, pass a background check and undergo drug testing among other qualifications.
The High Country Training Academy was made possible through the partnership of multiple agencies, including City of Flagstaff and the Flagstaff Police Department, Yavapai College, CCC, Northern Arizona University and the Police Department, Coconino County and the Sheriff’s Office.
For more information about public safety programs at Coconino Community College, visit https://www.coconino.edu/paths/public-safety.