1. The Law Enforcement Officers Training
Program created the board for the primary purpose of developing and
implementing guidelines for the selection and training of law enforcement
officers. Accordingly, the legislature mandated that the board authorize, but
only from such funds authorized and appropriated by the Legislature, the
reimbursement to each political subdivision and to state agencies of at least
fifty percent (50%) of the allowable salary and allowable tuition, living and
travel expense incurred by law enforcement officers in attendance at approved
training programs, provided said political subdivisions and state agencies do
in fact adhere to the selection and training standards established by the
board. The board shall authorize, but only from such funds authorized and
appropriated by the Legislature, the direct funding of a part-time law
enforcement officer training program. The board shall require the payment of a
reasonable tuition fee to aid in funding the costs of administering the
part-time law enforcement officer training program.
Note: Reimbursement is authorized only for those
agencies and subdivisions of the state who are in compliance with all
provisions of the Law Enforcement Officers Training Program (LEOTP) Act to
include those policies and procedures established by the board pursuant to the
Act.
A. The priority of
reimbursement funding shall be toward the development of:
1. Basic training;
2. Refresher/equivalency training; and
3. In-service training programs.
B. Reimbursement shall
be allowable for officers in attendance at board-approved training programs
established at such agencies or institutions as the board may deem appropriate.
Contact the board staff for information on available programs.
C. Employers are entitled to an additional
reimbursement, herein after to be known as a
"transfer
reimbursement", of training expenses from other law enforcement
employers should their officer leave law enforcement employment within three
(3) years after the date of his employment and immediately become employed by
another governmental entity in a law enforcement capacity.
1. The "transfer reimbursement" shall be a
proportionate share of the training expenses incurred. For the purposes of
calculating the transfer reimbursement, transfer reimbursement expenses shall
include the allowable tuition, salary and documented travel costs incurred
while the officer in question was enrolled in a training course. Transfer
reimbursement expenses do not include any related costs to your department such
as replacement officer salaries or in-kind contributions. To determine the
proportionate share of expenses incurred, total the Transfer reimbursement
expenses. Subtract the monies reimbursed by the Board. Divide the remainder by
36. Multiply the product times the number of months remaining in the officer's
three-year service period [36 less the number of months the officer has
served]. An example follows:
Officer Jones was employed as a full-time law enforcement
officer by the Sparta Police Department on November 1, 2015. He attended basic
training and successfully completed basic training in March of 2016. During
training he was paid at a rate of $9.00 per hour. Tuition for the basic course
was $3,600.00 and the documented allowable travel expenses incurred were
$817.50 [ten round-trips of 150 miles at $.545 per mile or the current rate at
which state and federal employees are reimbursed for mileage]. He left
full-time employment with Sparta P.D. on May 31, 2016. He began working as a
full-time law enforcement officer with the Wabash Police Department on June 20,
2016.
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Salary [$9.00/hr x 480 hours (length of
training)]
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= $4,320.00
|
|
Tuition
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= $3,600.00
|
|
Allowable travel costs (1,500 miles @
$.545/mile)
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= $817.50
|
|
T = Total transfer reimbursement
expenses
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= $8,737.50
|
|
R = Reimbursement (Maximum)
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= $3,600.00
|
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S = Number of months served
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= 7 months
|
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P = Statutory 3-year period of service
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= 36 months
|
|
Transfer Reimbursement = [(T -
R)/P](P-S)
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= [($8,737.50 - 3,600.00)/36](36-7)
|
|
= ($5,137.50/36)29
|
|
= $142.71 x 29
|
|
= $4,138.54
|
2.
For purposes of determining eligibility for the transfer reimbursement,
immediate re-employment shall be defined as obtaining another full-time,
part-time, reserve, or auxiliary law enforcement appointment within thirty days
of termination and/or receipt of compensation for services, accrued personal
leave or compensatory leave.
D. Agencies must meet the following
requirements in order to be eligible to receive reimbursement:
1. Agency must be an organization of the
state or a political subdivision of the state;
2. Officers attending training must be
full-time, part-time, reserve, or auxiliary law enforcement officers;
3. Agency must have adhered to the
selection and training standards established by the board;
4. All administrative requirements must have
been completed pursuant to this Policy and Procedures Manual to include all
forms completed in full; and
5.
Agency must have settled all accounts with the institution or academy where
training was conducted.
E. For the duration of training, the academy
or institution shall be the assigned place of duty. For the purposes of
calculating the Standards and Training reimbursement, allowable costs of
training are as follows:
1. The Board will
establish the allowable training costs. Training costs shall be derived from
subsistence and tuition expenses. The Board will set the allowable costs for
both areas and will prorate allowable costs dependent upon the subsistence and
tuition received by the student.
2.
The authorized base salary of full-time, part-time, reserve, or auxiliary law
enforcement officers is eligible for reimbursement for the period of enrollment
in training courses. Salary shall be computed based on the gross monthly salary
of the most recent full month prior to graduation. Reimbursement will only
include base compensation for a standard 40 hour week. Uniform allowance or
other pay benefits will not be considered for reimbursement. Reimbursement will
only be authorized for salaries paid for the performance of law enforcement
duties.
a. Officers who are not certified
within one year for full-time status and two years for part-time status from
their date of hire are not authorized to be paid a salary. Accordingly, the
board will not reimburse any salaries paid under such
circumstances.
3.
Allowable travel expenses shall be determined by multiplying the standard state
mileage rate times the mileage for one round trip. Agencies with more than one
student enrolled in a course will be expected to car pool and will receive
travel for one round trip. No travel reimbursement shall be authorized for
employees of state agencies who are enrolled in training programs.
4. The board shall provide training
reimbursement for required mandated training only if the training program
completed satisfies the requirements. The board will designate the appropriate
training program for certification purposes. If an applicant completes a course
other than the designated course, the applicant will not be certified and the
agency will not be reimbursed for training costs.
5. Only successfully completed board-approved
training programs are allowable. The board will not reimburse the training
costs of partially completed training or failed training. If the officer fails
either the academic, skill areas, firearms or fitness programs, the board will
not reimburse any costs of training.
Note: Evaluate your officers and correct any weaknesses
before enrolling them in the training program. You should consider withdrawing
your officers from training if they have difficulty in achieving course
requirements for any reason at any time. Officers may return after additional
preparation to attempt the course requirements.
6. The priority of training reimbursement
funds shall be for the completion of mandated training. Should funds become
available, grand fathered officers who attend a board-approved training course
may be reimbursed for training expenses. It is recommended that the agency
contact the director prior to enrolling certified personnel in board-approved
courses.
