Navy Law Enforcement Pilot Program Underway at NAS North Island

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Josh Cassatt, Navy Public Affairs Suport Element West

CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- A pilot program designed to standardize law enforcement procedures across the Navy is in full force at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island.

A first of its kind, the Commander Navy Installations Command (CNIC) Navy Security Forces Training Course provides expert-level training on every aspect of law enforcement to create a set of common practices among law enforcement agencies throughout the Navy community.

"This is a brand new training program in the Navy and we are looking to implement it Navy-wide, so all eyes are on this," said David Gallardo, a 23-year law enforcement veteran and the course's lead instructor for Navy Region, Southwest. "Right now we're at the trial-and-error stage, but the support for the program across the Navy and Department of Defense is unbelievable."

For nine weeks the cadets, made up of the Department of Defense (DoD) civilian police and Navy masters-at-arms, will go through a rigorous training cycle in law enforcement techniques, including search and seizure, anti-terrorism/force protection, vehicle searches, building and area searches, firearms proficiency, non-lethal weapons training, and many other areas of instruction vital to police.

"Our candidates must complete all training cycles in order to pass the course," Gallardo said. "We're trying to bring Navy law enforcement to a tempo that is second to none, and everybody must be on board."

For the Sailors going through the course, it is an opportunity to learn alongside their DoD police counterparts under some very accomplished instructors, comprising former civilian police officers and retired masters-at-arms.

"The instructors [of this course] are more intense than in our master-at-arms training, but I like the intensity," said Master-At-Arms Seaman Lindsey Bakke, a Sailor assigned to harbor patrol at Naval Base San Diego. "I am glad to be able to get training with the DoD guys and learn how the DoD police forces work."

That shared training is the cornerstone of the course, with the goal of a system of law enforcement procedures understood and followed across the Navy.

"Different law enforcement agencies do things differently," Gallardo said. "What we want to do with our course is create a Navywide system of law enforcement procedures to help streamline our methods and coordinate easily between agencies."

"We are doing something new here," said Dio Sarabia, a former police officer and the course's anti-terrorism/force protection instructor. "We want to take the course to a new level and get the respect of other departments and law enforcement agencies."

At the end of the course, which ends late June, the instructors will compile their information, evaluate the course, and submit their findings in hopes of implementing it Navywide.