CPO Program Resources
The NACOLE CPO Credential program recognizes oversight practitioners who have achieved a high level of professional oversight training and encourages employers and oversight agencies to financially support and encourage participation in these voluntary training programs. Although the CPO program originally recognized only training provided at the NACOLE Annual Conference, with the recent exponential growth in civilian oversight and the corresponding need for additional training for oversight practitioners, NACOLE has expanded both its training opportunities and the CPO program. Beyond its Annual Conference, NACOLE now offers seminars, webinars, symposia and regional meetings. NACOLE's CPO Credential Program incorporates these new training opportunities.
To qualify for certification, a participant must receive a minimum of 45 credit hours of NACOLE certified training and attend two annual NACOLE conferences within three consecutive years. Of those 45 credit hours, participants must receive a minimum of 1.5 credit hours in each of NACOLE’s 6 core competencies (Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, Investigations, the Public and Transparency, Law, Policing/Law Enforcement Policies & Procedures, Remediation and Discipline). In addition, participants are required to read two items from the approved reading list. All certification requirements must be completed in a three-year period and it is the responsibility of the participant to report their hours using the forms found through clicking on the "CPO Program Resources" link above.
After the initial certification, a participant can maintain their certification by receiving no less than 30 credit hours of NACOLE certified training and attending a minimum of one annual NACOLE Conference within the following three year period. Those seeking to maintain their certification will also be required to read two additional entries from the approved reading list during this time. The three year recertification period will begin on January 1st of the year following the completion of the initial certification. If recertification is not completed in this three-year period, participants must re-apply for the initial certification and complete all requirements to obtain new CPO credentials.
***Please note that during the COVID-19 pandemic, NACOLE switched to a format where it offered a virtual option to replace the 2020 conference and both a virtual and an in-person option for the 2021 annual conference. As a result, the following changes were implemented for the conference attendance requirement in 2020 and 2021 ONLY. Each session attended in its entirety was worth 1.5 credit hours. In order for virtual sessions to count towards the conference attendance requirement, participants must have attended a minimum of 18 virtual sessions. Attendance is verified through webinar backend reports. Participants who are not on our registration list and on the backend webinar attendance reports will not receive CPO credit.***
Note: All those holding a CPO certification on December 31, 2016 were grandfathered into the new CPO Program which took effect on January 31 2017. From that point they must maintain their certification under the new program guidelines. For those who began the certification process at the 2015 or 2016 Annual NACOLE Conferences, their credit hours and conference attendance will be applied towards the new program.
No costs will be associated with the program through 2023. In 2024 there may be a fee added to help cover program costs.