Luzerne County Community College Designated as Pennsylvania's Newest Act 120 Municipal Police Academy

The Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers' Educationand Training Commission (MPOETC) has approved Luzerne County Community College'sapplication to become one of Pennsylvania's newest Act 120 Municipal Police Academies.*To be employed as a police officer in the state of Pennsylvania, an individual mustsuccessfully complete a certified Act 120 Municipal Police Academy training program and pass the MPOETC state certification exam.

Currently, Pennsylvania faces a shortage of more than 1,200 municipal police officers. "The opening of this new Act 120 trainingfacility will give people who dream of becoming police officers a chance to turn their dreaminto reality. The Hazleton City Police Department, like many departments across the USA,is experiencing an officer shortage. The opening of this new center will help add more Act120 classes to this region, said Hazleton City Police Chief Brian Schoonmaker.

MPOTEC is advancing a goal to add 1,000 new municipal police officers in Pennsylvania by adding new Act 120 Municipal Police Academies to recruit and train new cadets interestedin law enforcement careers. Creating new Act 120 Municipal Police Academies helps reduce access and financial barriers for cadets while greatly enhancing the ability of local municipalities to attract certified police officers for their police departments. "The ACT 120Municipal Police Academy at LCCC will be a great benefit to the City of Wilkes-Barre Police Department and all local police departments. LCCC will provide good quality training for incoming officers. This designation will also allow newly hired officers to complete their training locally, thus being cost effective for the City of Wilkes-Barre. I am looking forwardto this partnership with LCCC," said Wilkes-Barre City Mayor George Brown.

Luzerne County Community College's Act 120 Academy will be operated out of the college's state-of-the-art Public Safety Training Institute on its Nanticoke campus at an accessible tuition rate of $5,950 to complete the program.As a cadet in the program, you will obtain the knowledge and professional skills necessaryto enter the law enforcement field. Graduates are qualified to be hired as officers in cities,boroughs, townships, and municipalities in Pennsylvania. Cadets must successfully complete 27 exams, covering five modules of training, with an average score of 80 percentper module. LCCC plans to operate two cohorts of 25 cadets per cohort of the Act 120Municipal Police Academy beginning in the spring semester of the 2026 school year.

"Luzerne County Community College will always step up to serve the Commonwealth and the communities of northeastern Pennsylvania. The designation as an Act 120 Municipal Police Academy empowers the college to be a powerful partner with the municipalities of northeastern Pennsylvania who are striving to put new police officers on the streets and tokeep their communities safe," said John Yudichak, President of Luzerne CountyCommunity College.

"It gives us another resource to have continuous training for entry-level police officers andwill be helpful in recruiting new police officer candidates," said Wilkes-Barre City PoliceChief Joseph Coffay.

To make an inquiry into becoming a new cadet at LCCC's Act 120 Municipal PoliceAcademy, please contact Doug Fawbush, LCCC Direct of Public Safety and Security, at(570-740-0305 or dfawbush@luzerne.edu).