The Sisyphus Comments

Regional Academy Officer Certification Status

The purpose of this article is to propose a change to the regulations or the Code of Virginia that is intended to address several problems that currently exist as a result of the legal status of the ten regional criminal justice academies located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Under the current Department of Criminal Justice Services regulations, a criminal justice officer ceases to be certified upon the date of his resignation from a criminal justice agency, regardless of the reason. Unlike other professions, such as teachers, a criminal justice officer cannot maintain his certification unless he is actively employed by a police department or sheriff’s office. Should a former officer or deputy later decide to return to the criminal justice profession, the amount of training that he would be required to attend to be re-certified would depend on the length of time that has elapsed since his resignation. If an officer or deputy has been away from the profession in excess of 48 months, he may be required to re-attend an entire entry level training course.

This problem could be corrected by either changing the existing DCJS regulations or by designating regional criminal justice academies as “criminal justice agencies” and, as such, permitting them to provide in-service training to out-of-status officers and serve as their agency of record. Several benefits will be realized by this designation and it will correct several problems. First, given the current emphasis on homeland security, this arrangement would provide a ready reserve of experienced personnel, who have maintained their training requirements and could return to duty after a brief period of re-orientation in a time of crisis. Next, the academies would be able to charge tuition fees for providing in-service training to out-of-status officers which could help to offset the funding reductions that have occurred over past years. Finally, this system would provide a pool of experienced officers and deputies from which a police department or sheriff’s office could draw both full time and part-time personnel without the high costs of training.

In addition, even though the regional criminal justice academies have the duty and responsibility to train officers and deputies in all disciplines of the criminal justice system, the academies themselves are not designated as a criminal justice agency. As a result, the regional academy staff members cannot continue to maintain their criminal justice certifications unless they are employed as part-time officers with an affiliated police department or sheriff’s office. This situation hampers a regional academy’s ability to attract the best qualified personnel since these individual could potentially lose their certifications upon resigning from a criminal justice agency. By comparison, academy staff members who are employed by a criminal justice agency that operates as an independent academy can continue to maintain their certifications since they are still members of the agency and the academy is just an assignment. Also, like their counterparts in the independent academies, regional academy staff members are often required to handle and transport guns, drugs and other training equipment. However, the simple act of being in possession of some equipment is of questionable legality for non-sworn personnel. This proposal would correct this problem by changing the legal status of academy staff personnel.

Proposed language for an amendment to the DCJS regulations

Regional academies shall be permitted to serve as the agency of record for maintaining the entry level, in-service and instructional training certifications of such personnel who would be qualified to maintain their certification if they were an employee of a police department or sheriff’s office which is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof. Persons who are permitted to maintain the aforementioned certifications under the authority of a regional criminal justice academy shall be designated as Non-Affiliated Reserve Officers. Upon being employed by a police department or sheriff’s office, they will be required to qualify with the employing agency’s firearm and complete 100 hours of field training in order to transfer their certification to the employing agency.

An alternative would be to amend Section 9.1 101 of the Code of Virginia as indicated below:

A BILL to amend and reenact Section 9.1 101 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the definition of criminal justice agency.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

That Section 9.1 101 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

Section 9.1 101. Definitions.

As used in this chapter or in Chapter 23 (Section 19.2 387 et seq.) of Title 19.2, unless the context requires a different meaning:

“Administration of criminal justice” means performance of any activity directly involving the detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders or the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal history record information.

“Board” means the Criminal Justice Services Board.

“Conviction data” means information in the custody of any criminal justice agency relating to a judgment of conviction, and the consequences arising therefrom, in any court.

“Correctional status information” means records and data concerning each condition of a convicted person’s custodial status, including probation, confinement, work release, study release, escape, or termination of custody through expiration of sentence, parole, pardon, or court decision.

“Criminal history record information” means records and data collected by criminal justice agencies on adult individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, or other formal charges, and any disposition arising therefrom. The term shall not include juvenile record information which is controlled by Chapter 11 (Section 16.1 226 et seq.) of Title 16.1, criminal justice intelligence information, criminal justice investigative information, or correctional status information.

“Criminal justice agency” means (i) a court or any other governmental agency or subunit thereof which as its principal function performs the administration of criminal justice and any other agency or subunit thereof which performs criminal justice activities, but only to the extent that it does so and (ii) for the purposes of Chapter 23 (Section 19.2 387 et seq.) of Title 19.2, any private corporation or agency which, within the context of its criminal justice activities employs officers appointed under Section 15.2 1737, or special conservators of the peace or special policemen appointed under Chapter 2 (Section 19.2 12 et seq.) of Title 19.2, provided that (a) such private corporation or agency requires its officers, special conservators or special policemen to meet compulsory training standards established by the Criminal Justice Services Board and submits reports of compliance with the training standards and (b) the private corporation or agency complies with the provisions of Article 3 (Section 9.1 126 et seq.) of this chapter, but only to the extent that the private corporation or agency so designated as a criminal justice agency performs criminal justice activities. “Criminal justice agency” includes the Virginia State Crime Commission.

“Criminal justice agency” includes any program certified by the Commission on VASAP pursuant to Section 18.2 271.2.

“Criminal justice agency” includes any regional criminal justice training academy certified by the Department of Criminal Justices Services. Regional academies shall be permitted to serve as the agency of record for maintaining the entry level, in-service and instructional training certifications of such personnel who would be qualified to maintain their certification if they were an employee of a police department or sheriff’s office which is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof. Persons who are permitted to maintain the aforementioned certifications under the authority of a regional criminal justice academy shall be designated as Non-Affiliated Reserve Officers. Upon being employed by a police department or sheriff’s office, they will be required to qualify with the employing agency’s firearm and complete 100 hours of field training in order to transfer their certification to the employing agency.

“Criminal justice information system” means a system including the equipment, facilities, procedures, agreements, and organizations thereof, for the collection, processing, preservation, or dissemination of criminal history record information. The operations of the system may be performed manually or by using electronic computers or other automated data processing equipment.

“Department” means the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

“Dissemination” means any transfer of information, whether orally, in writing, or by electronic means. The term shall not include access to the information by officers or employees of a criminal justice agency maintaining the information who have both a need and right to know the information.

“Law enforcement officer” means any full time or part time employee of a police department or sheriff’s office which is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth, and shall include any (i) special agent of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control; (ii) police agent appointed under the provisions of Section 56 353; (iii) officer of the Virginia Marine Police; (iv) game warden who is a full time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; (v) agent, investigator, or inspector appointed under Section 56 334; or (vi) investigator who is a full time sworn member of the security division of the State Lottery Department. Part time employees are those compensated officers who are not full time employees as defined by the employing police department or sheriff’s office. Full time sworn members of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles meeting the Department of Criminal Justice Services qualifications shall be deemed to be “law enforcement officers” when fulfilling their duties pursuant to Section 46.2 217.”School resource officer” means a certified law enforcement officer hired by the local law enforcement agency to provide law enforcement and security services to Virginia public elementary and secondary schools.

“School security officer” means an individual who is employed by the local school board for the singular purpose of maintaining order and discipline, preventing crime, investigating violations of school board policies, and detaining students violating the law or school board policies on school property or at school sponsored events and who is responsible solely for ensuring the safety, security, and welfare of all students, faculty, staff, and visitors in the assigned school.