MPC scrambles to reopen critical first responder training during the pandemic.

It’s a little tricky teaching recruits how to drive a police car over Zoom. There are online simulations, but when it comes down to it, nothing takes the place of behind-the-wheel training in a vehicle outfitted for law enforcement, says Linda Vaughn, president and CEO of South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium, known as The Academy. It’s the agency that conducts law enforcement classes under contract with the Monterey Peninsula College Police Academy.

The Academy’s in-person classes temporarily went dark at the MPC Public Safety Training Center in Seaside, after an updated shelter-in-place order was issued on April 3. Besides training police recruits and emergency medical technician trainees, the center includes the MPC Fire Academy for preparing firefighters and arson investigators.

“We tried to move as many classes as we could to a distance-learning format. If it wasn’t a class that had hands-on skills it was put online,” says David Brown, director of MPC’s training center. Some classes had to be canceled altogether, interrupting students’ path to graduation.

MPC administrators and Academy staff felt they had a case to make that students were already first responders, essential to the public’s health and safety under the order. Interrupting the flow of new trainees could put the public at risk, especially if agencies lose officers temporarily to quarantines, illness or stress, Vaughn says.

They appealed to county Health Officer Edward Moreno and a plan was worked out to mitigate risks. Precautions include students waiting in their cars each day to have their temperatures checked; wearing masks and gloves; and frequent sanitizing of surfaces. The Academy was able to resume in-person police training at the end of April, with shelter-in-place still in effect.

There are usually about 30 students in The Academy’s classes each semester at the training center located on the former Fort Ord, according to Vaughn. The San Jose-based agency teaches classes in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Monterey counties through host colleges. Classes offered include criminal law, cultural diversity, investigations, firearms, traffic enforcement, first aid and CPR. Students complete more than 900 hours of training over six months.

While the pandemic might have put a temporary pause on some training, it is acting as a real-world learning experience for students, Vaughn says. The hope is students will take heightened awareness of the virus into their new posts, as well as an empathy for the public.

“We’ve really been stressing that we are public servants in public service and more of what we’ll be doing at this time is service, rather than application of the law,” Vaughn says.

The Academy students were able to make up for lost time meeting extended hours and over weekends. The current class of police recruits is graduating in June and a new batch is due to start in July. Students in fire and EMT classes that were cancelled have to wait a bit longer, Brown says. He wants to see those students trained and helping the public.

“Fire season is coming right around the corner,” he says.