The Fullerton Police Academy and Administration are currently working closely with the Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training to reverse the current suspension of certification allowing the students to move on to the police forces once graduated.

The students that are or were enrolled in the police academy courses are a primary concern.

“Unfortunately what we can’t do is reimburse time,” Interim President Greg Schulz said. “But we’re doing everything in our ability to meet with the students and help them move forward with their training.”

Schulz’s open-door policy has allowed the students involved to approach him with any questions they have or questions on how they can move forward with their career paths.

With the current suspension, the administration is in the process of working alongside students by assisting with financial aid, counseling, and locating possible openings at other schools in nearby counties.

“I’ve been in contact with POST, we’ve talked the few past weeks,” Schulz said. “I expect them to return to our site, to work with our faculty, and we want to demonstrate to them that we have the things [evidence] like we’ve had the years before.”

The Commission on POST visited the campus mid-semester to interact with students and instructors and better understand whether or not qualifications are met.

A few days prior to the visit, Schulz and surrounding administration were notified that there were too many concerns to keep certification.

At first, administration believed POST’s decision to be a misunderstanding due to lack of documentation and quickly acted to provide support.

However the decision still held to suspend the credentials of the academy.

The suspension has been in effect since Oct. 5.

The students were notified immediately by Interim Chancellor Fred Williams, and were later visited by Schulz.

The Commission on POST found nine areas of concern in the Police Academy and asked for the school to provide proper documentation to support the areas.

According to Schulz, some of these areas include instructor qualifications, electronic documentation procedures, and prescriptive content such as test materials.

Faculty within the academy were disappointed when the decision was made by POST, but are working hard with their consultants as well.

Faculty is addressing any questions made by POST.

The FC Police Academy has been a part of the campus for over 20 years. FC will continue to offer classes such as Crime Scene Techniques and Rules of Evidence.

FC’s administration is eager for the academy to continue its courses once certification is reinstated.

Schulz has notified that POST understands the college’s interest, however there is no projected date for when the suspension will be lifted.

“We are working together now, my belief is that we’ll work together towards a resolution,” Schulz said. “I just want that to happen as soon as possible.”