Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1110-07-.01 - MINIMUM CURRICULA REQUIREMENTS

(1) Basic Law Enforcement Course. The Commission shall approve a program of instruction comprising fundamental law enforcement skills and knowledge, which shall be designated as the Basic Law Enforcement Course.

(a) Length. The Basic Law Enforcement Course shall include a minimum of four hundred eighty-eight (488) hours of instruction and study. Twenty percent (20%) of the total class hours in the course can be taught in a seminar setting.

(b) Format. The Basic Law Enforcement Course shall have a curriculum format that contains the elements listed below. A minimum score of seventy-five percent (75%) is required to complete each listed component successfully.

1. Firearms - forty-eight (48) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Weapons safety, nomenclature, and maintenance;

(ii) For handguns, stances and firing positions, including kneeling, standing, prone, off-hand, barricade, one-hand grip, and two-hand grip;

(iii) Double or single action (depending upon department-approved weapon);

(iv) Firing of fifty (50) rounds;

(v) Shall not be fired beyond twenty-five (25) yards;

(vi) Student shall demonstrate a proficiency of at least seventy-five percent (75%) both during day and darkness on all weapons issued or authorized by the student's department; and

(vii) Demonstrate a proficiency of at least seventy-five percent (75%) on a stress exertion course which has a laterally moving target.

2. Emergency Medical Training - ten (10) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Basic First Aid and CPR; infectious diseases; pathogens; and

(ii) Airborne and blood pathogens.

3. Patrol Procedures - one hundred twenty (120) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Traffic accident investigation;

(ii) Various types of patrol procedures;

(iii) Observation technique;

(iv) Officer survival tactics;

(v) Crime in progress;

(vi) Traffic control;

(vii) Crime scene and evidence protection and gathering, including chain of evidence;

(viii) Communication procedures;

(ix) Child sexual abuse investigation (minimum three (3) hours); and

(x) Crisis intervention (domestic disputes).

4. Interpersonal Communications - twenty-five (25) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Interview witnesses;

(ii) Interview victims;

(iii) Basic Street Spanish;

(iv) Field interviews; and

(v) Law enforcement citizen contacts.

5. Professional and Ethical Conduct - three (3) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) IACP Code of Ethics; and

(ii) Political influence on law enforcement.

6. Physical Defense Tactics - forty-eight (48) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Physical fitness training, including an obstacle course or other Commission-approved final physical fitness test;

(ii) Suspect control;

(iii) Various unarmed self-defense tactics;

(iv) Baton use, if used by department; and

(v) Control of the emotionally disturbed.

7. Criminal and Constitutional Law and Procedures - fifty (50) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) The impact that individual rights have upon police powers as set out in judicial opinions concerning the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th Amendments;

(ii) Post-arrest and pre-trial statutory procedure;

(iii) Civil liability of law enforcement; and

(iv) Criminal offenses, including traffic offenses, and applicable local ordinances.

8. Written Communications - ten (10) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Reports (all types);

(ii) Emphasis on elements of crimes in written narratives; and

(iii) Report writing skills.

9. Human Relations - thirty (30) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Sociology of groups, ethnic and racial;

(ii) Psychology of human behavior;

(iii) Basic street gang culture;

(iv) Sexual harassment; and

(v) Domestic terrorism.

10. Criminal Justice System - eleven (11) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Role of courts;

(ii) Role of various law enforcement agencies;

(iii) Role of correctional system;

(iv) Courtroom security; and

(v) Civil process.

11. Law Enforcement Stress - nine (9) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Recognizing the symptoms of law enforcement stress and coping mechanisms;

(ii) Law enforcement marriages; and

(iii) Nutrition and health management.

12. Administration - six (6) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Director's prerogative. Directors of the academies will determine courses of instruction for recruits which may include specialized certifications, local laws and ordinances, specific community issues, or any other applicable subject relevant to the jurisdiction in which the academy is located.

13. Emergency Vehicle Operations - forty-eight (48) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) Day and night course;

(ii) Drive a law enforcement equipped vehicle at constant speeds, both forward and reverse, through a cone marked serpentine course using the slip steering method;

(iii) Reverse a law enforcement equipped vehicle in a straight line under full acceleration;

(iv) Bring a law enforcement equipped vehicle to a complete stop from a speed of forty (40) miles per hour on a dry asphalt surface within a distance of seventy-five (75) feet without sliding the tires on the pavement;

(v) Parallel park a law enforcement equipped vehicle in a cone marked space twenty-four (24) feet long. Student must be able to successfully parallel park the vehicle once looking over left shoulder to the driver side of the vehicle and once looking over right shoulder to the passenger side of the vehicle;

(vi) Change direction of travel by one hundred eighty degrees (180°) two (2) times within a cone marked lane thirty (30) feet wide with two (2) recessed areas to simulate driveways;

(vii) Within a cone marked lane twelve (12) feet wide, drive a law enforcement equipped vehicle forward; steer through the course to the adjacent lane where indicated; then return to the original lane where indicated. The officer will then back the vehicle through the same course. The officer will go forward again to get back into the stream of traffic;

(viii) Within a cone marked double "S" curve with a twelve (12) feet wide lane, drive a law enforcement equipped vehicle forward to the end;

(ix) Above items v, vi, vii, and viii shall be timed events;

(x) Pursuit driving;

(xi) Departmental policies, where applicable; and

(xii) Vehicle familiarization.

14. National Safety Council Defensive Driving Course or comparable safety related course.

15. Community Policing - sixteen (16) hours of instruction to include the following:

(i) De-escalation techniques;

(ii) Duty to intervene;

(iii) Public assembly interaction; and

(iv) Emphasizing positive community and officer interactions and relationships.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1110-07-.01

Original rule filed January 29, 1986; effective April 15, 1986. Amendment filed September 24, 1986; effective December 29, 1986. Amendment filed June 13, 1997; effective October 28, 1997. Amendment filed April 19, 2002; effective August 28, 2002. Amendment filed October 2, 2006; effective February 28, 2007. Amendment filed March 18, 2010; effective June 16, 2010. Amendments filed January 7, 2021; effective April 7, 2021. Amendments filed September 3, 2021; effective 12/2/2021.

Authority: T.C.A. § 38-8-104.