Officer Trainings

The City of Decatur and the Decatur Police Department place a high value on training and put real support behind this value. It is easy to let training needs fall through the cracks when being faced with making decisions about funding and staffing. Our city and department hold training for our officers as a critical need and make the adjustments rather than saying “we do not have the funds or staffing”. We strive not to simply meet the minimum standards set forth by Georgia P.O.S.T. (Peace Officers Standards and Training Council) who govern the certification requirements of police officers in our state. We work to exceed the standards. For example, we choose to pay costs associated with sending our police recruits to the 17-week Georgia Piedmont Technical College Law Enforcement Academy when we could send them to the free 12-week State academy. We believe the additional training and collegiate setting produce a better trained officer.

All certified officers are required by Georgia P.O.S.T. to attend 20 hours of in-service training each year to keep their certifications. The 20 annual in-service training hours required by P.O.S.T. must include:

  • Community Policing
    • Police Legitimacy, Procedural Justice and Community Relations
    • Cultural Awareness
    • Fostering Positive Community Relations
  • De-escalation Options for Gaining Compliance
  • Firearms Qualification
  • Use of Force

Our department additionally requires annual in-service training on the following:

  • Biased-Based Profiling
  • Code of Conduct
  • Code of Ethics
  • Complaints and Internal Investigations
  • Dealing with the Mentally Ill and Persons of Diminished Capacity
  • Evidence and Property Control
  • Firearms Qualification (DPD requires a 2nd annual qualification w/Use of Force Review)
  • Organizational Structure
  • Prisoner Restraint and Transport
  • Search & Seizure
  • Selection and Hiring
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Vehicle Pursuits

While P.O.S.T. requires officers to attend 20 hours of in-service training each year, our officers average 80-90 hours of in-service training each year.

Additional in-service training our officers have attended includes:

  • ACT (At-Risk Adult Crime Tactics) Specialist Certification
  • Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT)
  • Basic Criminal Investigator
  • Beyond Community Policing
  • Child Death & Homicide Investigations
  • Child Exploitation
  • Citizen Complaints/Internal Affairs
  • CPR/1st Aid/AED
  • Crime Prevention for the 21st Century
  • Criminal Apprehension for Patrol
  • Criminal Procedure
  • Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
  • CVSA (Computer Voice Stress Analyzer) Operator Certification
  • Defensive Tactics
  • Domestic Violence
  • Elder Abuse & Exploitation Training
  • Emerging Law Enforcement Legal Trends
  • Evidence and Property Room Management
  • Evidence Collection & Processing
  • Excited Delirium Instructor
  • Fair and Impartial Policing©
  • Field Training Officer
  • First Responder
  • G.A.L.E.C. Chaplain's Training
  • Health and Wellness
  • Interviews and Interrogations 
  • Instructor Trainer Certification
  • Intelligence Analysis
  • Investigating Basic Sex Crimes
  • Leadership among Female Officers
  • Legal Updates
  • LIDAR
  • Management Level 1
  • Management Level 2
  • Management Level 3
  • Media and Public Relations
  • Mental Health 1st Aid
  • News Media Relations
  • Off Duty Conduct
  • Officer Survival
  • Patrol Rifle
  • Police Applicant Background Investigations
  • Police Motorcycle Training 
  • Preventing Community Crisis
  • Proactive Leadership
  • Professionalism and Ethics
  • Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) Instructor Training
  • Safety in our Schools
  • School Resource Officer Training
  • Social Media and Community Outreach
  • Social Media Training
  • Special Events Safety
  • Supervision Level 1
  • Supervision Level 2
  • Supervision Level 3
  • Suspicious Activity Reporting
  • Talk Tactics: Verbal De-Escalation
  • TASER Instructor
  • The Problem of Dog Related Incidents and Encounters
  • Transportation of Detainees
  • Verbal Judo
  • Women’s Leadership Institute – International Association of Chiefs of Police
  • Workplace of Difference for Law Enforcement Agencies - Anti-Defamation League
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