Organization

The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and its governing board, the Criminal Justice Services Board (CJSB), are responsible for setting training regulations for all criminal justice officers as well as academy and instructor certification requirements. At DCJS, training is delivered by the 10 regional and 26 independent certified training academies throughout the state. These academies provide entry-level, in-service, and specialized training for the officers of the criminal justice agencies in the state. All criminal justice officers must comply with compulsory minimum entry-level training within 12 months of their hiring date. Every two years thereafter, officers must complete in-service training in accordance with DCJS regulations.DCJS develops entry-level training standards and are approved by the CJSB based on the results of a job task analysis (JTA) of the respective job functions. Training objectives and testing criteria are based on the JTA and form the basis of the minimum entry-level curriculum. Academies may expand and provide enhancements to the minimum curriculum in order to meet their respective needs.All academies and their instructors must be certified by DCJS. Instructors designated as subject matter experts must provide documentation that they command an adequate background and credentials. Certain skill areas of instruction (firearms, defensive tactics, and driver training) require that a separate certification be obtained in order to instruct in these topics.