Dobbins police officer is first to receive new accreditation
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Air Force Reserve Command has its first civilian Peace Officer Standards and Training-accredited police officer.
Corey Blackmon, a police officer assigned to Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, completed the three-month-long POST-certified training through the Department of the Air Force Civilian Police Academy at the Veterans Administration Law Enforcement Training Center in Arkansas in December.
The Air Force’s Civilian Police Academy was reaccredited in the spring of 2021 to better meet the needs of Air Force Security Forces and its growing civilian police force.
“Our GS-0083 Police Series civilians are integral to the Air Force’s operational readiness and enable Security Forces to meet mission requirements,” said Chief Master Sgt. Patrick Yarusso, AFRC’s Security Forces functional manager. “We must train and equip the force to conduct law enforcement activities in support of military department and defense agency requirements.
“The DoD POST Commission established minimum training standards to attain DoD POST certification. The Veterans Affairs Law Enforcement Training Center and the U.S. Marine Corps Basic Police Officer Course serve as our training venues to meet those requirements.”
The course provides students with basic law enforcement training covering physical restraint and apprehension, patrol tactics and procedures, military and civilian law, and Air Force-specific law enforcement activities.
“The difference is that now Air Force police officers are trained in federal law in addition to state and Air Force law and policy,” Blackmon said. “I’ve been a cop for 22 years and I learned a lot from this training, in addition to its grueling physical fitness component.”
“In addition to our Department of the Air Force officers, uniformed Security Forces Defenders who have attained POST certification will be awarded a special experience identifier for law enforcement,” Yarusso said. “It demonstrates that they have attained a level of law enforcement training and certification to carry out the full range of law enforcement duties needed on our installations.”
More information about the course can be found on the Veterans Administration Law Enforcement Training Center website.