Training Academies.

State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies, 2006, a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) special report, presents findings from the 2006 BJS Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies, updating the results of the initial census conducted in 2002. The latest census included 648 academies providing basic training during 2006. The publication contains data on the number and type of training instructors; varieties of on- and off-site training facilities; operating expenditures; funding; basic training curriculum; and the number of instruction hours for each training topic. The report also includes the number and characteristics of recruits entering basic training and completion rates by race, gender, and type of training environment. Special topics include training related to terrorism and community policing.

Some highlights from the report revealed that basic training programs averaged 19 weeks in length. Topics with the most instruction time included firearms (median of 60 hours), self-defense (51 hours), health and fitness (46 hours), patrol procedures (40 hours), investigations (40 hours), emergency vehicle operations (40 hours), criminal law (36 hours), and basic first aid (24 hours). Of an estimated 57,000 recruits who entered basic training programs during 2005, 86 percent, or 49,000, successfully completed their program and graduated from the academy. Academics with a predominately nonstress, or academic, orientation (89 percent) had a higher completion rate than academies with a predominately stress, or paramilitary, orientation (80 percent). Links to the full-text report (NCJ 222987) can be found at the National Criminal Justice Reference Service's Web site, http://www.ncjrs.gov.