Tidewater Police Academy

The Tidewater Police Academy was a regional police academy that took place on the Old Dominion University (ODU) campus in the 1960s and 1970s. The program consisted of courses and lectures dealing with all aspects of law enforcement. The academy seems to have been phased out at ODU in the early 1980s.

History

The first instance of the Tidewater Police Academy took place during the Spring 1968 semester at what was then Old Dominion College. The academy was a joint venture between the Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Hampton, and Suffolk (including Nansemond County) police departments. The first instance of the program consisted of approximately 25 students and features courses and lectures on laws of arrest, civil rights, state codes, and search and seizure, as well as physical education during a six week period. The cost of the program began at $100 per cadet and was administered by Old Dominion. The first supervisor of the program was professor Roland G. Spector, Chairman of the Law Enforcement Department. Faculty for the program were drawn from local police departments, as well as state and federal law enforcement agencies. By 1969, the course was extended to an eight week program and produced several hundred police officers for the local community. By 1971, half of the 12 police officers from the ODU Police were graduates of the academy. In the mid-1970s, the program moved into the School of Continuing Education, and the academy focused on training recruits from the Southside except for Chesapeake and Norfolk. By 1979, in addition to the 8-week program, recruits receive 15 credit hours from ODU, and offers in-service training for re-certification of officers in Virginia. The training consisted of 40 hours and included supervision and management training. By 1982, however, it appears the academy either shut down or was no longer a part of the administration of ODU.

References

1. Mace & Crown, Old Dominion University.
2. Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Records, Boxes 23, 27, 34, and 49, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.