Sheriff’s department has new training ground
In rooms where juvenile offenders used to spend their nights
sleeping and their days studying, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s
Office will begin training new recruits at a South County facility
that has been vacant for two years.
Sheriff’s department has new training ground
In rooms where juvenile offenders used to spend their nights sleeping and their days studying, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office will begin training new recruits at a South County facility that has been vacant for two years.
Dubbed the Santa Clara County Harold Holden Justice Training Center, the Morgan Hill facility is off Cochrane Road in the North part of the city. It will be used as a Basic Academy for new recruits as well as a training center for current staff of the Sheriff and probation departments.
“It used to be a detention facility and a school for juveniles assigned to the detention center,” said Deputy Sergeant Michael Coty. “It required about five months of renovation because the school had been shut down.
Holding cells, old bunks in barracks and many of the other correctional aspects of the facility were pulled out to create eight functional classrooms.
While there are other law enforcement training programs in the county, including a Basic Academy at Gavilan College, Doty said the hope is that the new academy will provide more training. Programs are regulated by the Police Officer Standard in Training.
“They regulated the law enforcement training. They have training academies,” Doty said. “However our goal here is to provide a higher level of training to the recruits. The philosophy within our academy will be a little different.”
The new academy will incorporate training programs that deal with ways to handle weapons of mass destruction. The training requires the completion of a 900-hour program. Most basic academies require 880 hours.
“Not only will non-affiliated college students have a choice to go to the existing Gavilan College program or ours,” Doty said, “But law enforcement agencies will now have an additional choice to send their new officers.”
The first Sheriff’s office recruits will start class May 22. In the future, the academy may work with other law enforcement agencies.
“There is a need in the sense of the quality of instruction in the basic academies has not met the needs of many law enforcement agencies,” Doty said. “By the time they graduate, they will not only be mentally, but physically prepared to interact with the community and patrol.”
The new training center will prepare the recruits for field training, the next step before becoming an officer. Emergency vehicle operations and firearms courses will be held at other training facilities in the county.
The property, which is owned by the Santa Clara probation department, will also provide a space for probation staff training as well as classes for public safety personnel. The use of classrooms will be scheduled through the Sheriff’s office, but will be available to other law enforcement agencies and facilities.
“Long range, ultimately this will ensure that the quality of law enforcement provided is the best in the state,” Doty said.
