On Aug. 1, 54 new wildlife officers graduated from the Wildlife Officer Academy. Photo courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife

PARADISE, CA (MPG) - The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Wildlife Officer Academy graduated and pinned badges on 54 new officers Aug. 1 in Paradise, Butte County. This group represents the largest academy graduating class in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife history.

The academy is California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certified and offers training consistent with every law enforcement agency in California. In 2008, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife partnered with Butte College to provide peace officer academy training for prospective wildlife officers. The college provides the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with a state-of-the-art Peace Officer Standards and Training-certified academy facility with nearly 50 years of police training history.

“One of the best days of the year for us is adding a graduating class of wildlife officers to CDFW's Law Enforcement Division,” said Nathaniel Arnold, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Deputy Director and Chief of Law Enforcement. “It is a pleasure to see 54 eager new officers ready to support our mission to protect California's natural resources and provide public safety through effective and responsive law enforcement.”

The newly sworn peace officers will soon begin a Field Training Program where they will apply their academy training under the immediate supervision of seasoned field training officers (FTO). Field training with experienced field training officers is also mandated by Peace Officer Standards and Training to ensure new wildlife officers can apply the skills they learned during the academy to real life circumstances. Field training officers is the final stage of formal training. Upon successful completion, these officers will begin patrolling California to protect the natural resources of the state.

The wildlife officers will be deployed across the Law Enforcement Division's programs: regular patrol, marine enforcement, investigation of petroleum spills and response, and cannabis enforcement, to name a few.

The Law Enforcement Division is hiring. For more information about becoming a wildlife officer, visit wildlife.ca.gov/Enforcement.