BASIC TRAINING COURSE NOW AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET

Texas Crime Stoppers Basic Training is now available for home study on the Internet.  This web-based course covers the same materials offered in the two-day course that the Crime Stoppers Advisory Council and Texas State University-San Marcos conduct on-site in various cities throughout the state.

The Internet course provides 16 hours of training credit required for program certification.  It can be taken by both board members and coordinators from their home or office computers, working at their own speed.  The course contains nine subject modules and a final examination.  To receive credit for the course, particpants must complete all nine modules and pass the examination with a score of at least 70 percent.

For certified law enforcement officers, the course provides four in-service training credits from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE).

"The Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory Council is very pleased with the finished product and I personally believe it will offer a wonderful oppprtunity to enhance  our individual programs," Council Chairman Dorothy (Dee) Spinks said.  "No longer will there be an excuse for the board of directors to be ill-informed about Crime Stoppers operational procedures and state rules."

The Advisory Council hopes that this course will enable local programs to provide all board members and coordinators with training.  Crime Stoppers are encouraged to supplement the Internet course with attendance at the Annual Conference in May and by participating in the regional workshops and other on-site programs to gain the benfits of networking.

"Only with an understanding of Texas Crime Stoppers can our directors make effective presentations, generate sponsors, talk with business people, and speak with friends and acquaintances to successfully showcase our programs," Council Chairman Spinks added.  "Those of us who have repeatedly taken the Texas Crime Stoppers Basic Course will benefit from the Internet course by recalling text that we may have forgotten.  Our new members will add to their attendance at the Basic Course and Conference experience by means of the online course."

Participants who complete the course will be mailed a training certificate from Texas State University approximately two weeks after they receive a satisfactory grade on the final examination.

The Internet course is located on the website of TCLEOSE, click POSEIT in the Area of Interest on the left hand side.  Full instructions for accessing the course are available on the Texas Crime Stoppers website, www.crimestoppers.txstate.edu in the Training Section and What's Hot Section.  The textbook that accompanies the course is the Texas Crime Stoppers Operational Guidelines Resource Manual, which can be downloaded from the Library Section of the website.

Directory

Texas Crime Stoppers is updating the online directory.  Visit the website to reviw your program's information.  Click Update Your Information to send revisions, additions, or deletions.