Certificates & Awards
The North Carolina Sheriffs' Education and Training Standards Commission established the Professional Certificate/Service Award Programs to recognize the level of competence of sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, detention officers, and telecommunicators serving in North Carolina, to foster increased interest in college education and professional law enforcement training programs, and to attract highly qualified individuals into a law enforcement career.
Eligibility for professional certificates is determined by a formula which combines formal education, law enforcement training, and actual experience as a justice officer.The following components are considered for each of the professional certificate programs.
Education - Each semester hour of college credit shall equal one point; each quarter hour shall equal two-thirds point. No correspondence or vocational courses shall be credited towards education points unless an accredited institution credits the course(s) towards a degree. Applicants holding degrees, however, are not awarded additional points for those degrees and must instead meet the training point requirements through completion of law enforcement training.
Training - Twenty hours of Commission-approved training gained in an officer's area of expertise shall equal one point. BLET cannot be credited towards a detention officer's or a telecommunicator's training point total, nor can Correctional or Jailer training be credited towards a deputy's training points.
Note that credit for completion of basic training course is limited as follows:
| Basic Law Enforcement Training |
8 points
|
| Detention Officer Certification Course |
4 points
|
| Telecommunicator Certification Course |
2 points
|
Experience - The experience that can be credited varies with each Program. See Training and Experience Applicable to Professional Certificate/Service Awards.