Centennial College

Wanted: Strong individuals with the physical abilities and mental capacities to deal with distressing situations, and act with good judgment and morals. A reputable career in Police, Security, and related occupations calls for a program that empowers students with the physical and mental demands of the jobs. These are found in the theoretical and practical training at Toronto’s postsecondary institution. Centennial College recruits a talented pool of students in its highly competitive Police Foundations program in Toronto for a two-year adventure of police preparation

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“The motto here in the Police Foundations program at Centennial College is that, if you do not accept the challenges, you will never feel the exhilaration of victory,” says current student, Yuri Davydov. Centennial is a unique place of study, where students are guided to the right path while being challenged to reach their full potential. Its police program is the base of all learning, where students can become police officers, security guards, military personnel, and other related career aspirations.

Centennial put the policing program’s curriculum to meet the standards of police services in Ontario. Graduates are capable of analyzing and communicating accordingly to various issues and applying the correct methods in handling and solving problems. One of the requirements of becoming a Police Officer in Ontario is to pass the Physical Readiness Evaluation for Police (PREP) test. Centennial students prepare with walking and running exercises, wind sprints, and half-mile runs, as mentioned by Professor Tim Montgomery, before undergoing the beep test, also known as shuttle run. Centennial’s passing grade for the beep test is 6.5, which is also the level for passing in a police test. It consists of 6.7 to 7 minutes of progressive running, where students are encouraged to continue as long as possible before exhaustion. Other police requirements include:

Good vision, levels varies on employing organizations

Standard normal hearing, with frequencies of 500 to 3000Hz

Standard first aid certificate

Basic rescuer (level C) CPR or equivalent certificate

Valid "G" driver's licence and a clean driving abstract

Centennial helps prepare the students with the tests and requirements as it educates the students in the Police program and offers the certificate courses within the School of Community and Health Studies. It also provides an overview of the Canadian Criminal Justice System, Provincial Offences, and Ontario Highway Traffic Act as rudimentary courses for working officers within Ontario and Canada. In addition, police officers need the transferrable skills of any professional to conduct their business in an ethical and effective manner, with courses on communication skills and conflict management. However, most of the courses focus on police duties, such as crime scene management, interviewing and investigations, and criminology.

The list of courses at Centennial’s police preparation program excels but its college roots aids students in hands-on training. Centennial has courtroom stimulations and crime scene investigation and reporting where students will analyze realistic situations and report their findings. The program explores a wide scope of police duties to prepare students in various police careers in Ontario. Students are pushed hard so they would be more than prepared for provincial police services requirements, and more importantly, they are empowered to think critically and take every action with a good judgment in mind.