Clark State Community College issued the following announcement on March 21.
Clark State College has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ohio Attorney General to serve as an Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) Regional Training Provider.
“This is big for Clark State and the police academy,” said Paul Weber, commander of the Clark State Police Academy. “We have worked hard to get this academy to where it is now and OPOTA has recognized us as one of the excellent academies in the area.”
Clark State was one of five regional training centers selected in Ohio. OPOTA advanced training courses offered by the Regional Training Provider will be listed as OPOTA courses in the OPOTAs Portal online catalog, and student registration for the courses will occur through OPOTAs Portal.
An OPOTA Advanced Training Course is a course post Basic Training. Students are eligible to enroll in an Advanced Training Course after successfully completing Basic Training and receiving a certification of completion or if the student is otherwise approved to enroll in the Advanced Training Course by OPOTA
Upon successful completion of an Advanced Training course, students will receive an OPOTA certificate, and a record of the training will appear in the student’s official OPOTA transcript.
Weber said with Clark State being in close proximity to the OPOTA location in London, Ohio, he was pleasantly surprised to have been selected as a regional training location.
Clark State will be adding 22 new courses to the curriculum for OPOTA advanced training.
“It now means that Clark State will be offering courses that are required by OPOTA and other topics – such as de-escalation – that police officers can benefit from,” said Weber. “De-escalation courses help officers learn how to deescalate situations; these topics are the future for police officers. I foresee that class filling up quickly. It’s an excellent course.”
Weber said the Clark State police academy has many qualified instructors, but the OPOTA courses are separate from the police academy. He hopes to see the program expand over time.
“Clark State is a great college and academy,” said Weber. “The community will benefit because we will train the officers in the area in these important topics.”
The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy houses both Commission and Academy staff. Commission staff oversees training requirements and curriculum for peace officers, private security, local corrections, jail personnel, K-9 units, and humane agents, in addition to firearms programs for public defender investigators, bailiffs, probation officers, and parole officers. They also oversee certification standards of peace officers. Academy staff provide instruction in basic, advanced and technical subjects for the Ohio law enforcement community using the latest research and recommended professional practices.
Original source can be found here.
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