Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 45, November 9, 2024
Section 21.41 - Applicant qualification requirementsA person who desires to be certified by the Commissioner to instruct a portion of a lethal weapons training course, must satisfy the following requirements:
(1)Age. The applicant must be at least 18 years of age.(2)Documents and fees. The applicant must not have been convicted of a disqualifying criminal offense.(3)Education and experience. The applicant must meet the minimum education and experience standards.(i)Academic instructor rating. An instructor receiving this certification shall be authorized to teach one or more of the following course elements: Legal Authority, Constitutional Restrictions, Principles of Justification, Pennsylvania Crimes Code, Limited Authority, Incident Investigation and Reporting, Testifying in Court. An applicant for the Academic Instructor Rating must have, in addition to a course of study in 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 101-9183 (relating to the Crimes Code) and 234 Pa. Code (relating to Rules of Criminal Procedure), at least one of the following: (A) An Associate Degree from a college or university located within this Commonwealth in which the course major was Police Science, Police Administration, Law, Criminology, or a similar Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement curriculum.(B) An Associate Degree from a college or university located outside of this Commonwealth in which the course major was Police Science, Police Administration, Law, Criminology, or a similar Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement curriculum.(C) A combination of education, which in the opinion of the Commissioner is equivalent to the educational standards in clause (A) or (B), and a minimum of 2 years experience as an instructor in a police or security academy teaching similar course material.(ii)Skills instructor rating. An instructor receiving this certification shall be authorized to teach the armed and unarmed defense course element. An applicant for the skills rating must have at least one of the following: (A) An undergraduate degree in Physical Education and 1 year of experience in law enforcement, criminal justice, or the security industry.(B) A high school diploma, or GED equivalent, and 3 years of full-time experience as a physical education or martial arts instructor.(C) A combination of education/training, which in the opinion of the Commissioner is equivalent to the standard in clause (A) or (B).(iii)Firearms instructor rating. An instructor receiving this certification shall be authorized to teach the firearms module. An applicant for the firearms instructor rating must be certifed as a police firearms instructor, or an equivalent thereto, by one of the following recognized organizations:(A) National Rifle Association.(B) Smith & Wesson Academy.(C) Federal Bureau of Investigation.