The Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy (ALETA) is the flagship law enforcement training facility in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Operated by the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training, ALETA provides training to all law enforcement agencies in Arkansas free-of-charge.

History

ALETA was established in 1963 by the Arkansas General Assembly and eventually sited permanently on the grounds of the former

Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot The Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot was a munitions manufacturing facility of the United States Navy located in Calhoun and Ouachita counties in southern Arkansas. It operated from 1945 until 1957, producing Sidewinder missiles and other weapon ...

near

Camden, Arkansas Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlooking the Ouachita River, the city developed ...

. The Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot was founded during World War II and was turned over to the State of Arkansas by President Lyndon B. Johnson to be turned into a police and fire academy as well as a college. Today, the grounds of the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot contain

Southern Arkansas University Tech Southern Arkansas University Tech (SAU Tech) is a Public college, public community college in Calhoun County, Arkansas. History SAU Tech was created on April 5, 1967, as Southwest Technical Institute by Act 534 of the Arkansas Legislature. The p ...

, the

Arkansas Fire Training Academy The Arkansas Fire Training Academy is the official fire training institution for the state of Arkansas. The main campus is located on the grounds of Southern Arkansas University Tech in Camden, Arkansas, alongside the Arkansas Law Enforcement Tra ...

, and Highland Industrial Park, as well as ALETA. For decades, ALETA was the only police academy in Arkansas, and classes were often over capacity. ALETA is still the primary police academy in Arkansas, although the 2004 creation of ALETA-Northwest in Springdale and the 2017 creation of ALETA-Central at the Robinson Maneuver Training Center have somewhat reduced the high demand for classes at the Camden location.

Basic police training

ALETA serves as the basic police academy for most state and local law enforcement agencies in Arkansas, although some of the larger departments, such as the

Little Rock Police Department The Little Rock Police Department (LRPD), is the primary law enforcement agency for Little Rock, Arkansas in the United States. History In 1831 the Town of Little Rock was incorporated and Dr. Matthew Cunningham won the first mayoral election ...

and the Arkansas State Police are allowed to operate their own academies under ALETA standards. The current basic program consists of a 13-week course comprising both hands-on and classroom instruction, designed to prepare students for day-to-day work as patrol officers. ALETA currently offers four 13-week classes a year a at the primary campus in Camden, and two at both ALETA-Northwest and ALETA-Central. Each 13-week class graduates, on average, 100 police officers. The 13-week class is required for those who serve as law-enforcement officers in excess of 21 hours a week. A shorter, 2-week course, is offered for part-time and auxiliary police officers and is offered as an off-campus class.

References

{{coord, 33.6307, -92.7226, type:edu_region:US-AR, display=title Police academies in the United States Schools in Arkansas 1963 establishments in Arkansas Educational institutions established in 1963 Law enforcement in Arkansas Education in Ouachita County, Arkansas Camden, Arkansas