FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Andrea Blakeway, Public Relations

Email: ablakeway@kennerpd.com

Office: (504) 712-2244

Date: January 6, 2009

KPD’s fourth P.O.S.T. Academy to begin on January 12

KENNER — Kenner Police Chief Steve Caraway is pleased to announce that the Kenner Police Department’s fourth Peace Officer Standards & Training (P.O.S.T.) Academy class will begin on Monday, January 12, 2009. The course will last 16 weeks and is open to recruits from other jurisdictions. Academy classes will be held at the Kenner Police Training Center, located at 1939 Third St. in Kenner. A total of 18 individuals will be participating in the Academy, including 16 police officer recruits and 2 officers receiving refresher training. Recruits from other jurisdictions include the Westwego Police Department and the Tulane University Police Department.

Kenner police officers who reach the academy have successfully completed a complex and stringent hiring process, which includes an extensive background investigation, physical fitness assessment, psychological exam and final selection through an oral Administrative Review Board process.

Students in the academy must abide by strict codes of discipline while they receive over 500 hours of training in various aspects of police work, such as legal issues, first aid, firearms, investigations, traffic services, patrol practices, report writing, community relations, self-defense tactics, physical training and defensive driving. P.O.S.T. requires a minimum of 320 hours of instruction.

Upon graduation, officers will be P.O.S.T. certified, meaning that they have taken and passed the P.O.S.T. exam and have sufficiently completed the basic training requirements. Louisiana law requires all police officers to be P.O.S.T. certified within one year of being hired. Upon completing the basic academy, new Kenner police officers must also successfully complete an 18-week field training program working with a veteran patrol officer until they are ready to assume routine patrol duties.

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