Full Notification

On Friday, December 12^th, at 12:00 noon, the Amarillo Police Department’s 86th Police Academy class will graduate.  The graduation ceremony will be held in the Grand Plaza of the Amarillo Civic Center.  City of Amarillo Municipal Court Judge Sonya Letson will swear in the new officers.  The newly sworn officers often select family members to pin on their badge. 

The ten officers completed 1,113 hours of police training since beginning the academy on 6-5-2014.  In the 27 week academy, the recruit officers were first required to pass the Texas Basic Peace Officer’s Certification test.  After obtaining the state certification, they begin a series of department-specific and more advanced courses.  The APD Academy training covers subjects including emergency vehicle operation, report writing, department rules and regulations, constitutional rights, criminal and traffic law, search and seizure, criminal investigation, evidence collection, mental health crisis intervention, mechanics of arrest, and self-defense.   These officers will be assigned to Uniform Division and will continue their training under the direct supervision of Field Training Officers for the next four months, rotating through each shift.  During field training, FTOs complete written, daily evaluations of their progress and performance.  The field training period is used to document training and knowledge of over 900 police tasks. 

The academy graduates that are starting the field training portion of their assignment are:

Matthew Adams, Vincent Bissoni, John Chapman, Billy Corley, Chase Cox, Justin Frye, Blake Gray, Cesar Huerta, Reba Purvis, and Rudy Sapien. 

The Amarillo Police Department’s authorized strength is 365 sworn officers, with about 200 of those plus supervisors assigned to the four Uniform shifts, PACE, and Motorcycle Unit functions.  The graduation of the 86th Academy brings department strength up to 367, with retirements which will bring it to at or below strength in the next month.  The 87th Amarillo Police Academy, with 13 recruits, started their 27 week academy on 12-4-2014. Testing for the next Amarillo Police Academy will begin on May 9^th, 2015 for the academy scheduled to begin Dec. 3, 2015.

For additional information about employment as an Amarillo police officer, see http://police.amarillo.gov/?page_id=771