Latest news with #ILETSB
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Illinois announces change in standards for military transitioning to police
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV)— The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) announced Wednesday a change in standards for military members transitioning into law enforcement roles. The ILETSB approved military reciprocity, joining 18 other states that have done so already. The new policy means military members are now eligible for certification reciprocity instead of having to complete the full 640-hour Basic Law Enforcement Academy. Military service members used to be ineligible for certification reciprocity despite training by the Department of Defense and operational experience. Now, eligible veterans can request a certification waiver like applicants from other states or federal agencies can. 'Today's announcement honors the commitment of our service members by opening a clear path into law enforcement careers across Illinois,' said Keith Calloway, Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. 'This is about honoring their experience while meeting our state's workforce needs in a responsible and impactful way.' The policy change comes after months of collaboration between ILETSB, military leaders, and state partners, stating that they want to ease the transition to civilian service roles and strengthen recruitment pipelines for law enforcement agencies across the state. 'Our Illinois Army National Guard Military Police and Air National Guard Security Forces personnel spend a lot of time training and learning law enforcement techniques in our ranks. This program expands the number of military occupational specialties that can translate into civilian careers,' said Major General Rodney Boyd, the Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard. 'Illinois National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are great employees who perform well under pressure, possess great integrity, and are professional in everything they do.' To be granted a waiver request, veterans must: Successfully complete the Illinois Law for Police Course, which includes instruction on Illinois-specific law, policies, and procedures A two-day in-person Sexual Assault Investigation course A 40-hour Mandatory Firearms Course with Use of Force instruction and training Passing the Illinois Certification Exam Any additional training deemed necessary by ILETSB Additional information and application instructions can be found at this link. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘Best I've ever seen': New simulator offers state-of-the-art training to all Illinois police departments
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — There's no replacement for the real thing, but officials at the Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board are hoping a new training simulator will be the next best option. The state just finished installing a state-of-the-art simulator for training police officers across Illinois. The VirTra simulator puts officers through a long list of scenarios, and each situation can be altered based on how the officer responds to what's happening. The huge screens wrap almost entirely around the officer in an attempt to fully immerse them in the situation, and the screens react to the guns, tasers and pepper spray that officers are given for the scenarios. Springfield Police cracking down on 'pop up parties' 'I can't understate the importance of this,' Chatham police officer Dave Leach said. 'I didn't get this 20 years ago.' Several police academies have simulators like this in the state, and larger police departments have their own simulators that don't have as many bells and whistles. This one, however, is going to be different, and it's all because of who can access it. 'I think the primary objective when we started looking at virtual reality training or simulation training in this manner was to close the gap on opportunities from large departments down to our smallest departments in the state,' Paul Petty, Manager of in service training at ILETSB said. 'Obviously, this offers both hands-on opportunity, but it also offers the opportunity to do individualized training with officers as we enhance certain skills. They can be soft skills, they can be more advanced skills, de-escalation skills.' Any department in the state can schedule trainings at the Springfield location for no cost, and officers can go through the training at any point in their careers, unlike at most academies. The state bought this simulator to meet some of training standards laid out in the SAFE-T Act. Man hit by freight train in Springfield, condition unknown 'What the SAFE-T Act did, namely, was identify deficiencies in law enforcement's training, one of them being providing hands on scenario based training that's boots on the ground,' Petty said. 'This virtual reality system will allow an officer to be immersed in a situation that is very real. You saw downstairs heart rates go up, anxiety goes up, voices go up there. There are variable factors in this scenario base.' The goal of the simulation training is to give officers the best idea of any situation they can be in. That way, they can learn from mistakes without real-world consequences. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
