Capt. Paul Chignell: Taraval a Training Station

I am pleased to announce to the community that the Taraval Police Station is now a training station for new recruits entering the SF Police Department. This is an important acknowledgement for the officers at the Taraval Station and will redound to the benefit of the community we serve.

Currently, persons entering the police department spend the first six months at the Police Academy learning the basics of police work in a regimented and paramilitary setting. Their skills in academics, physical training, personal interaction, driving, court testifying and a plethora of other tasks is taught, measured and evaluated.

The recruits then go to various district police stations for a rigorous 22 weeks of field training where they are paired with veteran officers and evaluated and, if need be, remediated on the actual field aspects of being a police officer.

Becoming a field training station means the Taraval Station will add to our complement of officers patrolling the streets of a police district which is one fourth of the size of the entire City. It also means that we have energetic officers who are poised to learn all aspects of police work and who are highly motivated. It also increases the morale of the veteran officers as they impart their knowledge and professionalism to the recruits.

The veterans are encouraged to train the recruits in all aspects of police work, from quality-of-life issues to the prevention and detection of violent crime and criminals. It means that all community problems where the police department has a role are handled during the training period.

We are pleased to be a training station and serve our community.

Capt. Paul Chignell is the commanding officer at the Taraval Police Station.