ARLINGTON – The Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) celebrated the opening of its Northwest Regional Training Academy (RTA) in Arlington Thursday and will begin training its first class of peace officers Monday.
Arlington is the final of three regional academies funded by the Washington State Legislature in 2023. The Southeast RTA in Pasco opened in May 2023 and has since graduated 110 peace officers, with another 33 slated to graduate on June 17. The Southwest RTA in Vancouver, where class first began Jan. 16, 2024, has graduated 54 peace officers and 135 corrections officers. Vancouver plans to graduate a class of 32 peace officers on April 24 and 32 corrections officers on May 8.
“This is a great day for public safety in Washington state and our northwest communities,” said Sen. John Lovick (D-Mill Creek), who led the effort to secure state funding for the campuses. “We will have five academies training recruits in Washington state, allowing us to train more recruits than at any other time in state history. We are getting officers to the communities that need them faster than ever before.”
In addition to the Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest regional academies, the CJTC also trains recruits at its headquarters in Burien and their Northeast regional campus in Spokane. According to the CJTC, the new regional academies have virtually eliminated wait times for recruits to attend training. Prior to their establishment, some recruits waited as long as two years to attend the Basic Law Enforcement Academy.
More information on the Basic Law Enforcement Academy, including a detailed list of the planned and in-session academy classes, can be found here.
