HISTORY

The roots of the Training Division can be traced back to two key events in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1957, the Nevada Highway Patrol and its Academy became part of the newly-created Department of Motor Vehicles. In 1965, the Nevada Legislature created the Commission on Peace Officer Standards Training (POST) under the direction of the Attorney General.

In 1969, the POST Commission was renamed the POST Committee and it was placed under the Nevada Commission on Crime.

In 1981, POST was placed in the Department of Motor Vehicles. Due to the increasing number of law enforcement agencies under its wing, the department was renamed the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety in 1985.

In 1992, POST and the Highway Patrol Academy merged to form the Nevada Law Enforcement Academy. The newly-revamped POST Committee and the NLEA were responsible for training state-level peace officers, and for the certification of all 16 Nevada law enforcement academies operated for 131 law enforcement agencies.

In 1999, the Nevada Legislature reorganized the POST Committee into the POST Commission and removed it from the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety. POST became a Cabinet-level Commission which reports directly to the Governor and operates a law enforcement academy to train peace officers from rural jurisdictions.

As the result of the separation of POST from the Department of Motor Vehicles & Public Safety, the Nevada Legislature allowed the formation of the DMV-PS Training Division, which became the DPS Training Division when DMV-PS was split into separate departments in 2001.

The mission of the Training Division is multifaceted, involving basic training and career enhancement education for Department employees. The staff is made up of employees from the Nevada Highway Patrol, Division of Parole and Probation, and Investigation Division.