Each year the Allen Police Department hires a number of individuals who are required to obtain their Basic Peace Officer Certification prior to being a Police Officer. In the past, the department has relied on a variety of different police academies included the Regional Police Academy hosted by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, Collin College Police Academy and the Dallas Sheriff's Office Police Academy to train our personnel. While each academy graduated personnel who later went on to be successful and productive police officers, the department found the training to be inconsistent at times and our personnel lacked some of the skillsets that the department felt should have been learned in these academies.
Similar concerns were discovered in discussions with other area law enforcement agencies and their training units. Over time, it was determined that it would be in the best interests of the Cities of Plano and Richardson to host a police academy and to allow the Cities of Allen, McKinney and Frisco to participate in the academy by sending personnel to be trained and/or providing instructors for the academy as needed. A new curriculum was developed and all five cities agreed course content, instructional methods and policies / rules of the academy.
The City of Allen sent its first two recruits to the Plano Richardson Police Academy with the class that began October 23, 2017.