Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Criminal Justice Training Center has finalized an agreement with CNX Resources in Canonsburg to serve as the Pittsburgh region’s satellite site for the Center’s municipal police academy (Act 120) training.
The first municipal police academy at the CNX site, which will be offered on a part-time basis, is scheduled to begin on May 10. Applications for the Academy can be made on the Criminal Justice Training Center website. Applications are only accepted until one week prior to the start of the academy. Applicants must submit their application so additional testing can be completed prior to the start date.
From left, IUP Criminal Justice Training Center Director Marcia Cole with CNX Community Relations and Special Projects Operations Manager Melissa Wilson
“CNX provides an excellent location as a satellite center for our Municipal Police Academy,” IUP Center Director Marcia Cole said. “The staff has been fantastic to work with, and the facilities are excellent. The location in the Pittsburgh region provides easy access for interested students in the area, especially important to working professionals who want to take advantage of the part-time program while remaining in the area. In addition to upcoming part-time academies, plans are proceeding for the site to host a full-time class at the CNX headquarters in March 2026,” Cole said.
IUP will continue to host academy programs starting in January and June at the IUP Criminal Justice Training Center, located in the Robertshaw building on the Indiana campus.
The next full-time municipal training academy at the IUP Police Academy begins January 13, 2025, and then in June 2025.
The CNX site, located in Southpointe at 1000 Horizon Vue Dr., offers multiple classroom spaces, a dedicated mat room training area, a gym and locker room facilities, free parking, a coffee shop, and many areas to study and relax.
“We are happy to welcome IUP CJTC to our diverse community of nonprofits and small businesses,” CNX Community Relations and Special Projects Operations Manager Melissa Wilson said. “Since the inception of the headquarters at CNX, we have strived to find different ways to provide a positive impact on our communities, and working with the IUP CJTC to train local and municipal police officers clearly fits our tangible, impactful, and local strategy.”
The IUP Criminal Justice Training Center opened in 1975. The center is certified by the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission to provide Act 120 training designed to certify individuals as municipal police officers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
From left, Andrew Volchko, Bethel Park police officer, and Anthony Andronas, Washington County Sheriff; program coordinators for the CNX Academy
The Center holds national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. in the Public Safety Training Academy Accreditation program. IUP has also been selected by Quest for the Best, a tax-exempt organization, as the recipient of $66,700 for scholarships for students who are studying to become municipal police officers.
Thousands of officers from municipalities all over the state of Pennsylvania have been trained at the Center since 1975. Currently, more than 99 percent of graduates from the Center are hired as officers in cities, boroughs, townships, and municipalities across Pennsylvania.
Cole also hopes that establishing this new satellite center in the Pittsburgh area will provide more opportunities for municipal departments in the Pittsburgh region that have vacancies—and potential officers who want to stay in the region for training—to take advantage of Act 89 grant funding from the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission.
This grant program will reimburse a department 75 percent of the tuition and 45 percent of the hourly wage (for the required hours of training) for any cadet hired by the department and paid to attend a certified municipal police academy.
“Police departments are seeing vast numbers of retirements, so many departments are operating with multiple openings and are consistently recruiting in order to attract new applicants,” Cole said. “There is a definite need for trained police officers in our region and in our commonwealth, and we are very pleased to provide this additional training site to help to meet this critically important workforce need.”
The faculty in IUP’s program includes practitioners from diverse backgrounds and experiences, including district court judges, former county district attorneys, current and former criminology faculty (often from police ranks), police chiefs, detectives, SWAT officers, and patrol officers. This cadre of instructors has been assembled over the years and has gelled into a highly effective teaching force producing well-prepared police cadets.
CNX Resources Corporation is a premier, ultra-low carbon-intensive natural gas development, production, midstream, and technology company with a 160-year regional legacy, substantial asset base, leading core operational competencies, technology development and innovation, and astute capital allocation methodologies.