Description:

The Golden West College Criminal Justice Training Center ( CJTC ) is deeply committed to Golden West College ’s mission of “Student Success.”  With an emphasis on student-centered instruction and problem-based learning, it is the Center’s top priority to provide educational, vocational, and technical training that will lead to a transfer to a university, specialized employment, or career enhancement in the criminal justice profession.

The Center is committed to train peace officers and support personnel in the underlying philosophy of Community Oriented Policing, emphasizing principles of leadership, ethics, professional values, partnership development, problem-solving skills, tactical proficiency, and communication.  The Center is dedicated to the success of all students so that they may demonstrate the critical skills necessary to prepare them to work cooperatively in the multifaceted communities they serve.

Our students may be classified within the following three groups:

1. Matriculating high school graduates seeking to obtain an Associate in Arts degree, or to transfer to the California State University or University of California system to pursue a Baccalaureate degree.  This group also includes entry-level young adults who seek specific vocational education opportunities and who do not intend to transfer to a four-year university.

2. Entry-level students referred to the CJTC by a public service agency.  These are students who require a basic course to satisfy specific legal training mandates for employment.

3 Experienced criminal justice professionals who are established in their careers.  This group of students enrolls in courses offered by the CJTC to pursue a college degree, to improve their job and promotional skills, or to satisfy a specific legal training mandate.

Highlights:

• The police academy program presented by the Criminal Justice Training Center at Golden West College was established in 1955 under the direction of the FBI.  In 1960, the operation of the Academy program was turned over to the Coast Community College District and it became the first police academy in the nation under the auspices of a community college.  The academy was presented at Orange Coast College until 1969 when it moved to Golden West College .
  
  
• The GWC police academy was recognized by the POST and the California Attorney General’s Office as the first California police academy to incorporate “Community Policing” into its academy program.  The CJTC currently requires its academy instructors to weave in concepts of community policing, leadership, and ethics into their blocks of instruction.
  
  
• The GWC police academy is the only California police academy to incorporate the Six Pillars of Character, as developed by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, into its curriculum.  The GWC Certificate of Achievement, Law Enforcement Option, is also the only California community college criminal justice program that requires completion of a three-unit character development course for its certificate of achievement.
  
  

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