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Port police officers will undergo maritime training
From staff reports
Posted: 06/04/2009 07:01:42 PM PDT

All Port of Los Angeles police officers will undergo a rigorous maritime training course from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department under a deal approved Thursday by the Board of Harbor Commissioners.

Other than basic training, port police officers currently receive almost no maritime enforcement training, according to a port report. The new course requires officers to undergo up to 220 hours of classroom instruction and field exercise in addition to police academy training.

Other law enforcement agencies were considered as partners, but the Sheriff's Department is the only local agency that has experience in training officers for maritime law, the port report said.

The $500,000 training program will be paid by the governor's Office of Homeland Security through Proposition 1B funds, approved in 2006 by California voters.

"The development of this maritime security curriculum will make the Port of Los Angeles the premier training location in the country, and possibly the world," said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the port.