Section 1720.30  School Standards and Requirements

a)         Each academy or course certified by the Board shall operate, for the duration of the academy or course, under a full-time Academy Director approved by the Executive Director of the Board.

b)         The Academy Director shall assume the responsibility of the overall supervision of the school, including the preparation and grading of examinations, rating of classroom notebooks, arranging for qualified instructors, providing for food and lodging for the trainees where appropriate, arranging for adequate training facilities such as classrooms, props, gymnasium and safe firearms ranges, and the conduct and discipline of the trainees.

c)         The Academy Director shall maintain complete records on each trainee and, at the conclusion of the course, submit those records to the Executive Director of the Board for filing in such form as he may require.  A copy of the performance record of each trainee shall also be furnished to the trainee's employing agency, including demeanor and deportment of the trainee.

d)         The Academy Director shall make a final determination as to whether a trainee has satisfactorily passed all reasonable standards and requirements of a particular course of training.  The Academy Director shall also have the authority to dismiss from the school any trainee prior to the completion of the course, if, in the opinion of the Academy Director, the trainee is unable or unwilling to satisfactorily complete the prescribed course of training.  Immediately upon dismissal action, the Academy Director shall submit a written report to the Executive Director and the trainee's employing agency.

e)         The Academy Director shall set reasonable fees for any training course, including tuition and room and board where applicable.  The local governmental agency employing the trainee shall pay the fees directly to the training school or employing agency.

f)         Approval of Training Course

1)         A formal letter of application for certification of a training course under the Illinois Police Training Act must be submitted to the Executive Director by the sponsoring agency and/or the course Director.  The application must include course objectives, curriculum outline, a brief description of what is taught under each topic, the complete schedule of the school (hour by hour and day by day and lesson plans) and the names and qualifications of the instructors to be used.  The application must also list the specific location of the physical facilities to be used, including firearms ranges and detailed justification regarding fees to be charged, as set forth in subsection (e).  Applications shall be submitted at least 45 days prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board.

2)         After the complete program of the proposed course is evaluated, the applicant will be notified by the Executive Director as to whether the course is approved or disapproved.

g)         The Academy Director shall have the responsibility of administering the Board's Physical Fitness Training Standards to all trainees before the trainees commence the Minimum Standard Basic Law Enforcement Training Course.  A trainee must successfully meet the Board's Physical Fitness Training Standards as described in subsection (h).

h)         Every trainee shall be required to perform and successfully complete all of the Board's physical fitness (POWER) tests in the sequence delineated in this Section.  The tests shall be as follows:

1)         Every trainee shall meet the Board's sit and reach standard as defined in Appendix A.

2)         Every trainee shall meet the Board's one minute sit-up standard as defined in Appendix A.

3)         Every trainee shall meet the Board's benchpress standard as defined in Appendix A.

4)         Every trainee shall meet the Board's 1.5 mile run standard as defined in Appendix A.

i)          If a trainee fails any standard listed in subsection (h), the Academy Director is authorized to administer a re-test on that specific standard on one more occasion.  A trainee only needs to retake the standards of the sequence he or she failed.  The re-test must be administered between 48 and 72 hours after the conclusion of the first test.

j)          Within the final week of the academy, the trainee must complete the sequence of physical fitness tests set forth in subsection (h) again and the results of these tests must be shared with the Board for analysis.

(Source:  Amended at 47 Ill. Reg. 9369, effective June 23, 2023)