The Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA) Board is pleased to announce it granted reaccreditation status to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Explosives Detection Canine Handler Course at the November 18-21, 2014 meeting in Glynco, GA.
The ATF Explosives Detection Canine (EDC) Handler Course is a 10 week course delivered by the National Canine Division (NCD) in Front Royal, Virginia. The course is attended by sworn law enforcement officers from federal, state, local and foreign agencies. As the attendees are already working members of their agencies, the EDC course focus is on providing foundational training on the skills required to obtain proficiency as an EDC Handler. These include; introduction to explosives and IED’s, canine olfaction, ATF canine training methodology, basic handling skills, operational deployment, canine health & wellness, and explosive procurement, storage, handling and transportation.
Prior to the 10 week EDC Handler course, the training staff of the NCD: evaluate, procure, and train potential canine candidates for six weeks to ensure they are fundamentally sound and ready for matching with handlers.
The FLETA Board is the accrediting body for all federal law enforcement training and support programs. To achieve accreditation, agencies submit to an independent review of their academy and/or program to ensure compliance with the FLETA Standards and Procedures in the areas of: Program Administration, Training Staff, Training Development, and Training Delivery, with an additional 20 standards for Academies. Accreditation is a cyclical process occurring every five years. Each year, agencies must submit annual reports in preparation for reaccreditation, which is a new and independent review of the academy/program.