You are here: Home » About the Port » Employment » Police Department Training
RCW 43.101.200 requires that all full-time commissioned law enforcement officers enroll in the basic training prescribed by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission within six months of employment. However, the Training Commission recommends that any newly hired officer attend the Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) as soon as possible, prior to involvement with the exercise of arrest authority or general enforcement duties. The Training Commission assumes responsibility for all direct training costs for mandatory attendees.
The Basic Academy provides instruction to recruit officers, supplying the basic knowledge and mandatory skills for safe, proper and effective law enforcement service. The course is 720 hours long.
The basic equivalency process represents a challenge to the regular Academy program. It is available to previously certified officers upon the request of the respective agency head. Typically, an equivalency applicant is an officer who must re-certify due to a substantial break in law enforcement employment or an officer who has attained basic law enforcement certification through successful completion of another state's Academy program.
A Basic Law Enforcement Equivalency certificate places the recipient in the same stead and standing as if he/she had successfully completed the regular Academy program. Such certification requires the fulfillment of certain prerequisites and successful completion of an 80-hour Equivalency Academy consisting of written examinations, practical exercises and orientation training. The Port of Seattle Police Department reserves the option of sending out-of-state lateral officers through the BLEA course in lieu of the basic equivalency process.
For more information on academy training, including course dates, please visit the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission Web site. The academy is located near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington.