Only On 3: Inside Look At CHP Training Academy

WEST SACRAMENTO- Welcome to the California Highway Patrol training academy. Forget morning coffee. These cadets start their day at 4:00 am with an intense 20 minute workout. Followed by a three mile jog around the training grounds. Then, they get cleaned up and grab a quick bite to eat. And, I mean quick. Some cadets finished their meals in under 3 minutes.

“If you don’t come physically prepared and you struggle in PT, you struggle everywhere throughout the academy. From academics to tactical,” says Jeff Kivi, an instructor at the academy.

The CHP academy is part college and part military. Cadets live on campus and can only leave on the weekends.

“It allows them to be focused in their training, they don’t have outside distractions like some other the other training academies you can go home where we have a closed environment where your focused Monday through Friday, 24 hours a day on the training your doing here,” says Kivi.

And, it’s more than just driving fast and shooting guns. For 6 months, they train in various areas of law enforcement. Like weapons training: guns, batons and tasers.

The first half of the raining is done in the classroom. The second half is hands on.

A good example is the DUI wet lab. An instructor carefully monitors the drinking to make sure the cadets are over the legal limit. So, other cadets can practice their DUI field sobriety tests. Up until now, the senior cadets practiced on their sober roommates. Now, they have the chance to practice on a cadet that’s actually drunk.

Cadets are also required to put into practice what they learn during a series of training scenarios. There are ten in all and they two chances to pass. If they fail, they’re out. This scenario is a suspicious person call. The cadet finds the suspect, searches her and questions her. Then, makes an arrest. Then it’s up to the instructor to determine if he’s passes.

“Okay, you arrested. Why did you arrest?” asked the instructor.

“I arrested her for 6-47A of the Penal Code. She was on private property. She had intention to commit a crime and she had no lawful business being there,” says the cadet.

“Okay, how’d you establish that?”

“I saw her picking a lock with a screwdriver. I also know this is private property because of the address given and like I said, she had no lawful business. She gave me a fake name, for one. She didn’t know who lived there. She mentioned there was a ring over there, which there was no evidence of a ring and based on that I felt she had no lawful reason to be here.”

A third of CHP cadets don’t make it through the academy. And, even if you graduate, it doesn’t mean you’ll make it as an CHP officer.

“Some people are very well in structured, safe environment and when it’s … there having to make that life and death decision some aren’t comfortable or can’t make that decision,” says Kivi.

Cadets must also go through an 3 month on-the-job training period to test their skills. The California Highway Patrol does more than write speeding tickets and help stranded drivers. They patrol areas without local police departments. They’re also in charge of security at all state buildings.

The job can be deadly. Cadets pay tribute to fallen officers every Wednesday during a fountain ceremony. The entire academy stands at attention while a company of cadets polish the plaques of the 214 fallen CHP officers on display around the academy’s central fountain. The names are a reminder of the dangers of the job. But, with the dangers comes the pride of serving.