Training and Certifications

Training remains one of our highest priorities on the Washington Police Department.

The Washington Police Department is dedicated to preparing each of its employees to meet the needs of the City of Washington and its residents. Our commitment to training is essential to having a police department fully prepared to handle the varied calls for service which occur in the City of Washington.

Washington Police Officers acquire a 14-week Basic Law Enforcement Certification through a state accredited police academy prior to a Field Training period. The Field Training Program provides on the job training and mentorship to new officers over a 16-week program with certified Field Training Officers. Through these initial training periods, each officer is vetted to patrol the City of Washington and serve the public.

After these initial training periods, our officers are provided training to meet all training benchmarks set by the Illinois Training and Standards Board (ILETSB). We consider the benchmarks set by the ILETSB to be minimum standards and we are constantly providing training to our officers to exceed these standards. Our officers receive training in civil rights, human rights, cultural competency, crisis intervention, and mental health response on an ongoing basis.

For decades, the Washington Police Department has trained in excited delirium and positional asphyxia. We recognize that training in excited delirium and positional asphyxia alone is inadequate to protect those we serve. For this reason, we have explicitly trained in the dangers of hypoxia associated with arrest, to look for signs a person is not breathing adequately, including voiced complaints of breathing problems, and to treat those signs as medical emergencies.