Defensive Tactics

The Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy requires each recruit to complete a rigorous defensive tactics program that spans the 20-week session.

The recruit must learn to properly use officer safety, control and arrest techniques, and to maintain an attitude of officer survival. Each recruit must demonstrate a working knowledge of the legal requirements surrounding the use of force, both lethal and non-lethal, and must display proper judgment in making use of force decisions.

Recruits learn handcuffing, searching, and empty-hand control. The NVCJTA defensive tactics curriculum is based on state mandated requirements. However, the NVCJTA goes beyond state

certification requirements to ensure that graduates have been provided the best training possible to succeed in the field. By the end of their defensive tactics training, recruits attain a level of competence at which they can make confident and proper force decisions in stressful situations.