San Diego Police shut down police academy for two weeks amid COVID-19 outbreak

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The San Diego Police Department announced today that it is closing down its police academy for at least two weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The San Diego Regional Public Safety Training Institute held at Miramar Community College was training two academy classes containing a total of 185 recruits, SDPD Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said.

"With the health and safety of those recruits and their families in mind, law enforcement leaders in the region have elected to suspend both academies for the next two weeks,'' Takeuchi said. "Academy staff will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and will determine if a longer suspension is needed.''

The 122nd class was scheduled to graduate 88 recruits in May and the 123rd class was scheduled to graduate 97 recruits in August, he said.

It was not immediately clear if the closure would affect those graduation dates.

The academy teaches a 25-week program that consists of 928 hours of academic and practical training.

"That training environment requires many hours of in-person and scenario based training that simply cannot be replicated in a virtual format,'' Takeuchi said.

All 185 recruits were instructed to report to their respective agencies for further direction.

The recruits breakdown is:

-- SDPD: 94

-- San Diego County Sheriff's Department: 45

-- Chula Vista Police Department: 10

-- Oceanside Police Department: 7

-- San Diego Harbor Police Department: 6

-- San Diego State University Police Department: 4

-- Open enrollees: 4

-- La Mesa Police Department: 4

-- National City Police Department: 4

-- El Cajon Police Department: 2

-- Carlsbad Police Department: 1

-- California Department of Insurance: 1

-- California Department of Health and Safety: 1

-- California Department of Motor Vehicles: 1