ADOC Training Academy

Looking Back, Moving Forward:

Alabama Department of Corrections Training History

Prior to 1973, there were no professional development standards for correctional security personnel. In October 1973, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill placing correctional officers under the jurisdiction of the Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission (APOSTC).

Immediately thereafter, correctional officers began receiving 240 hours of police officer training at Regional Police Academies throughout the state. When APOSTC research revealed that only one-third of the police training was applicable to correctional officers, an additional 80 hours of training was designed and implemented for corrections officers.

In 1976, correctional officers began receiving a total of 320 hours, but upon further review and a needs assessment, a new basic training curriculum was designed to address the specific corrections training needs. The proposed curriculum was reviewed and approved by the National Institute of Corrections, the American Correctional Association and the APOSTC, and it was implemented in January 1978.

Corrections basic training was consolidated from regional police academies in November 1980 and located at the Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center in Selma. About four years later, the Alabama Corrections Academy received certification as a Law Enforcement Training School by the APOSTC. At that point, it became a separate entity with separate administrative and academic facilities, operating under the sole direction of the Department of Corrections and the APOSTC requirements, with a curriculum of 280 hours.

Since 2006, the student load for the Alabama Corrections Academy has averaged more than 700 per year; routinely including training for new recruits, lateral transfers, county corrections officers, and K-9 handlers, members of the Corrections Emergency Response Team, warden's training, and others. Since 2002, more than 6,246 students have received some for of training at the Alabama Corrections Academy. The academy staff is headed by a Director, and 18 full time employees.

Today, the standard is 480 hours (12 weeks) of academy training for new recruits. In addition, all security personnel receive 32 hours of continued professional development training annually. The number of ADOC recruits continues to grow, with more than triple our graduating class of 2006.

New Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center

"It's spectacular, almost mind-boggling"
— Commissioner Richard F. Allen

SELMA — There were not enough adjectives to describe the debut of the new Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center in Selma on September, 23, 2010.

Governor Bob Riley helped christen the new facility at a ribbon cutting ceremony with Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner, Richard Allen and Department of Public Safety Director, Colonel Christopher Murphy.

"This new training facility is something Alabama has needed for a long time. Our law enforcement officers deserve the best training center we can provide, and this new center is state of the art. I will compare this facility not only with any other in Alabama, but any in the world."

The first shovel of dirt was turned in March, 2009. Just 18 months later the Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center was complete at a cost of $24.5 million with funding provided by the 2007 education bond issue.

"Today, the quality of this facility has finally caught up to the quality of men and women it trains," Alabama Speaker of the House, state Rep. Seth Hammett said.

The new training center is a six building complex, complete with two academic buildings — one for each Department. The ADOC academic building is 12,072 square feet with three classrooms, interactive SMART boards, administrative offices, and a firearms vault. Each Department has its own dormitory at 33,803 square feet, with 75 sleeping units. A shared dining hall seats 200, with a fitness center pushing almost 5,000 sq. ft.

"It allows the professionalism displayed daily by this Department's personnel to be encompassed in a training facility," Deputy Commissioner Greg Lovelace said. "From a training standpoint, it allows this Department to utilize the latest and best forms of technology available."

The Criminal Justice Training Center is located on the campus of Wallace Community College in Selma. It replaces the 1950's era former training center at Crag Field, also in Selma. The old facilities were in constant need of repair, costly to maintain, and considered deplorable by many, including members of the Alabama Legislature who toured Craig Field prior to approval for this project.

"Having the opportunity to enjoy the 21st Century 'state-of-the-art' Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center (ACJTC) is now a reality for the Department," Training Director Wendy Williams said. "I believe I can speak for the entire Training Division when I say 'what an honor' it is to have such an opportunity. I am so proud for the ADOC and all the future students of the ACJTC. The ADOC already has the best Correctional Training Programs in the nation, and now we have the facilities to mirror the actual training!"

State Senator Hank Sanders, D-Selma, was instrumental in keeping the facility in Dallas County. "Every year there was a question of moving the facility from Craig Field, and I called on Gov. Riley every year to make sure that didn't happen," Sanders said. "I don't think we will have to struggle anymore. I think its going to be here for a long time."

The Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center is the largest law enforcement training facility in the state of Alabama. A partnership with the Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission, the Alabama Department of Corrections, and the Alabama Department of Public Safety provides superior law enforcement training to develop and support the finest peace officers.

"I am peacock proud and honeymoon happy because this has truly been a work in progress," said James Mitchell, president of Wallace Community College.

The college also has just added a state-of-the-art Use of Force Lab, which will be available to law enforcement agencies. The only one of its kind in the state, the system uses 3D technology to provide officers with an opportunity to use weapons to respond to computerized images and scenarios.

• Management leadership
• Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT)
• Emergency Vehicle Operations Simulation
• Special Weapons and Tactics Training (SWAT), Basic and Advanced

Other courses offered:

• APOSTC Basic Police
• Officer Survival
• Pressure Point Control Technique/Warrior Science
• Strategic Self-Defense Grappling Tactics
• OC Spray Certification/Recertification
• Taser Certification/Recertification
• Firearms and Training Simulation
• Basic Patrol Rifle Marksmanship
• Select Fire Weapons Training
• Standardized Field Sobriety Test Refresher
• Rappelling Basic/Advanced
• Radar Instruction
• First Aid/CPR
• Community News and Media Relations
• Effective Communication-Workplace
• Interpersonal Communications
• Instructor Development
• eCrash Training
• Law Enforcement Motorcycle Operations
• Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation
• Microsoft Office XP/2003/2007

Alabama Corrections Academy graduation by the numbers:

Quick Facts: Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center

• The Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center project cost a total of $24.5 million and was completed in 18 months (from ground breaking in March 2009 to September 2010).
• The new training center was funded by the 2007 education bond issue.
• Montgomery-based Seay, Seay & Litchfield, P.C., designed the facility. J. Ronald Blount, president of Montgomery-based JRB Associates Inc., served as program manager.
• The Department of Corrections Academic Building is 12,072 square feet with three classrooms along with offices for administrators and instructors and a firearms vault. Classrooms have operable partitions that will allow flexible use of the space.
• The Department of Public Safety Academic Building is 14,012 square feet with six classrooms along with offices for administrators and instructors, firearms training simulator and vault. The Academic Building is designed for both wireless and hardwired computers.
• For now, each of the two departments has a 33,803-square-foot dormitory with plans to build additional dormitories as needed.
• Each dorm building has 75 sleeping units that include a bathroom and shower. Each building also has a laundry room and study space. Rooms are individually climate-controlled.
• The dining hall is 8,025 square feet and has a kitchen, food storage, serving area, dish drop-off area and seating for 200 people.
• The 4,916-square-foot fitness center provides space for storage and use of exercise equipment.
• Planning for the future: The Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center will grow in coming years to include two additional dormitories and an auditorium.