It is essential that all police officers are well-educated and proficient in their policing skills and have the opportunity to specialize in various fields so that the department can continue to provide the best quality of service to the community. For that reason, the Kenner Police Department opened a training center in Rivertown in 1995. The facility features a full-size gymnasium with both free weights and cardiovascular equipment. Additionally, there are two full-size classrooms with electronic audio/visual amenities for instruction of officers and to conduct community safety programs. Also featured at the facility is a state-of-the-art simulator room which provides real life scenario-based training for officers. The training staff is responsible for managing in-house training for police officers, schedules officers to attend out-of-town training courses and a full-time academy for newly hired officers.
The Louisiana Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Council requires a full-time police officers to attend a Basic Law Enforcement Peace Officers Academy with a minimum length of 400 hours. The Training Center is authorized by Louisiana P.O.S.T. Council to conduct Basic Law Enforcement Peace Officer Academies. Currently, the Kenner Police Department Basic Peace Officer Academy is over 600 hours in length and is attended by all newly hired Kenner police officers and officers from outside agencies throughout the New Orleans metropolitan area. This has allowed the department to meet the growing demand for producing quality, highly trained police officers.
All P.O.S.T. certified officers attend annual in-service training and must meet a minimum requirement of 20 hours. The Kenner Police Department far exceeds this requirement and provides its officers with more than 40 hours of training annually. The department trains officers in the most current topics to include, de-escalation training, bias-based policing, crisis intervention, legal updates, use of force, CPR/First Aid, defensive tactics, firearms, police driving, crowd management and numerous other law enforcement related topics.
The Kenner Police Department currently conducts an annual voluntary physical readiness testing program. Each year officers can voluntarily participate in the program and earn up to two wellness days. These are additional days off from days already granted through years of service. This encourages officer to maintain a high level of fitness and rewards them for maintaining this level of fitness. The test consists of seven events including a 1.5-mile run, a vertical jump test, timed push-ups and sit ups, an agility run, 300-meter run and a 1 rep max bench press event.
