Careers: Police/EOT

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Expert: - 10/29/2011


Question
I have heard conflicting stories about EOT. I have heard that being a Navy reservist will count and also that it won't; that only active duty time would make me eligible for EOT. I have been in the Navy reserves for 4 years as Navy police and basically have all the high liability quals for EOT except traffic crash investigation I think. So my questions are: does military reserve time count towards eligibility for EOT and is there a way to take a traffic crash investigation course by itself without having to go through the full academy?

Answer
Good Afternoon Christopher,

I can unequivocally tell you that you must serve a one-year ( 365 days) of active duty to have account as one year of full-time work. A reserve duty, or reservist position does not qualify for the equivalency of training.

The Florida administrative code that covers this is very specific as well as the Florida State statute. They require at least one year of full time employment in the field of law enforcement. Reserve duty is not considered full-time employment and thereby does not meet the state statutory requirement.

If you are a Navy police officer and have gone through the Navy's police training you may be able to use that if you have served one year of full-time status somewhere in the Navy. But if it is strictly reservist duty then you will not qualify for the equivalency of training.

I am sorry that's probably not what you wanted to hear but you said you wanted to get clarification and also straightened out as to what and was not accepted.

Now one of the caveats of this is if you served one year of wartime duty deployed for more than 365 days then you would qualify for the one year of full-time employment. So if you have served overseas in any of the war fronts or other areas due to deployment for more than one year you would qualify for the equivalency of training.

I also have a webpage that helps explain this and gives you the state statute requirements for the EOT.

https://sites.google.com/site/flaleohelp/home/florida-requirements/-9-the-academy-or-eot

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Chris Wagoner

Expertise

I have been a police officer for 30+ years! I am the Police Academy Commander at the Santa Fe College, Institute of Public Safety in Gainesville Florida It is a full service Law Enforcement and Corrections training facility. I can answer most questions concerning law enforcement procedures, law enforcement training and general questions about law enforcment. I can also answer questions about becoming a law enfocement officer. I have a booklet and web page I have written that answers many questions about how to become a police officer called "So you want to be a cop (police Officer) in Florida?", which is free, Google it.. All you have to do is ask. I teach the following subjects: RADAR/LASER, Law Enforcement Driving, Law Enforcement Firearms and Patrol Techniques, Officer Safety, WMD's for Patrol Officers, Application of Law, Communications skills, Dealing with the Mentally and physically handicapped, and many more subjects. I have worked as a subject matter expert for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and helped to write the police curriculum for the State of Florida. I like answering questions about how to become a police officer, and questions about why did an officer do this or that type questions. I also like answering any questions you may have about police work in general. I do not mind helping with homework questions or trying to answer your questions about legal subjects that I have knowledge of. You will never know the answer until you ask! If you do ask a question, PLEASE take the time to at least rate the answer. I do not get paid to answer these questions and do it on my own time. If you ask, please rate it when I answer. Thanks!!! If its a question about becoming a police officer, it may be answered here: http://sites.google.com/site/flaleohelp/ My "hobby" website - http://www.youtube.com/user/3rdID8487 Military Videos on YouTube and Facebook!!

Experience

I am a 30+ year veteran police officer, I am currently the Police Academy Commander of an Academy in North FLorida. I have been training police officers since 1993 and have trained them in all aspects of law enforcement, including firearms, Driving and legal subjects including patrol techniques and others and training all over the world. I have trained over 5000 officers worldwide in the last 16 years of training.

Publications
I am a published author in Accident Investigation from the University of North Florida, Institute of Police Technology and Management. Also have written and published on the Internet, "So You Want to be a Cop (Police Officer) in Florida?" you can Google it..

Education/Credentials
I have 2 degrees, in Criminal Justice.

Awards and Honors
Phi Theta Kappa, plus 50+ Departmental Awards over the years. FBI Directors award for assisting in a Nationwide investigation into Child pornography.

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