Peace Officer - Skills Certificate

Program Overview:

This certificate program is designed for students that have completed or will complete a Professional Peace Officer Education (PPOE) academic program through any Minnesota PPOE Certified college or university but need to complete the PPOE SKILLS requirement to become licensure eligible.

Program Outcomes:

Upon completion of the Peace Officer program at RCTC, students will achieve the following outcomes:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the Criminal Justice System and criminal procedure.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the current Juvenile Justice System.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of ethics in law enforcement.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the Minnesota Criminal Statutes to satisfy POST Learning Objectives.

Additional Information:

Individuals applying for the certificate program must already have completed or be in the process of completing their PPOE Profession Program Requirements for their degree. Students intending to enroll in the certificate program must have approval from their referring institutions PPOE POST Board Coordinator.

Grade of “C” or better is required of all general education and Peace Officer course requirements.

All certificate students are required to be certified first responders and to have a diversity course. This can be done from your transferring college or by taking the following courses: EMC 1121 – Emergency Medical Responder (First Responder (2 cr) and SOC 2625 – Minority Group Relations (3 cr)

Notice of Minnesota Background Check Requirement Minnesota Statute 245C requires that students who have contact with individuals in licensed institutions complete an annual background study with the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Individuals who do not pass the background check will not be allowed to participate in program activities. A list of disqualifying offenses is available at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=245C.15 Information about completing the background study will be available from program faculty.

PEACE OFFICER - SKILLS CERTIFICATE

PROGRAM CORE REQUIREMENTS (12 CREDITS)

• POFS 2101 – Crime Scene Processing (2 cr)*
• POFS 2102 – Traffic Enforcement (3 cr)*
• POFS 2103 – Defensive Tactics (2 cr)*
• POFS 2104 – Firearms for SKILLS (2 cr)*
• POFS 2105 – Patrol Practical’s (3 cr)*

*Tuition differential associated with these courses

RECOMMENDED COURSE SEQUENCES

FULL-TIME

• Semester 1 (12 CREDITS): POFS 2101, POFS 2102, POFS 2103, POFS 2104, POFS 2105

Course descriptions can be found at: RCTC course descriptions