There is no complete exemption for out-of-state officers or officers working for federal agencies in Virginia. The attached document shows the exemptions available on the first few pages. Some portions of the available exemptions may be further exempted based on your training and employment history.

Basically, the out-of-state exemptions are similar to the requirements for formerly certified in-state officers who have not worked in law enforcement for an extended period of time. The training requirements provide training in legal issues, some patrol techniques, defensive tactics, use of force and weapons use. You will also be required to pass the VA certification exam and complete a minimum of 100 hours of field training with the VA agency that hires you.

Any agency that you are applying with in VA should be familiar with these regulations. You could choose to attend a VA Law Enforcement Basic Academy on a pre-employment basis but you would be required to attend the entire academy. These exemptions are only available at the request of a VA law enforcement agency and would not be available to you on a pre-employment basis. There are also some VA agencies that will not accept any exemptions and do mandate the completion of their academy regardless of the certification status of the officer.

Training Exemptions

http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/standardsTraining/compulsoryMinimumTraining/officers.cfm

Every law-enforcement officer, jailor or custodial officer, court security officer, process service officer, and officers of the Department of Corrections must complete compulsory in-service training by December 31 of the second calendar year following satisfactory completion of the entry-level compulsory minimum training standards, and every other calendar year thereafter.

• LE-40 hours (4 legal, 2 Cultural Diversity and 34 Career Development)
• Jailors-24 hours (4 legal, 2 Cultural Diversity and 18 Career Development)
• Court Security and Civil Process-16 hours (4 legal, 2 Cultural Diversity and 10 Career Development)
• DOC Correctional Staff-24 (4 legal, 2 Cultural Diversity and 18 Career Development)
• DOC Lieutenants & Wardens-40 (4 Legal, 2 Cultural Diversity and 34 Career Development)

Instructor certification shall be valid for not more than three years. Individual instructors must meet all applicable recertification requirements by December 31 of the third calendar year following issuance of certification.

No DCJS approval is required for LEOSA compliance. The following link will assist you if you are residing in Virginia:

http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/pss/special/documents/ImplementingLEOSA-07-11.pdf

Once you are employed by a Virginia law enforcement agency, that agency may apply for a waiver of some of the compulsory minimum training requirements based upon any prior law enforcement experience and training. There is no automatic waiver for military police officers or other federal law enforcement officers; these would fall under the out-of-state exemption guidelines. The attached document shows the exemptions available on the first few pages. Those that could apply in your situation are numbers 8 - 10. Some portions of the available exemptions may be further exempted based on your training and employment history.

Training Exemptions

Agencies not currently using T-Rex (Training Online Database software) may fax their forms to DCJS or send via PDF format; however, this method will significantly delay processing the request. The T-Rex User Guide may be accessed at http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/cple/t-rex/

Fax to (804) 786-0410

Contact Sharon Gray at Sharon.gray@dcjs.virginia.gov or 757.567.5690 or Kenny Adcock at Kenneth.adcock@dcjs.virginia.gov or 804.786.3923. For further DCJS contacts and information, click on link. http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/about/contactUs/contact.cfm

You can ask a general question from our website at http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/about/contactUs/contact.cfm

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