Two Academy Graduates Join Pasadena Police After Orange County Sheriff’s Basic Academy

Two new officers, Jose Rivera-Villatoro and D’Cherion Nelson, officially joined the Pasadena Police Department after graduating from the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy on Thursday, Aug. 27, according to the City of Pasadena.

The two graduated as members of Basic Academy Class 271 at the academy in Tustin, where the Basic Academy runs approximately six months, plus an optional two-week pre-academy, with four to five classes a year, according to Santa Ana College, the Sheriff’s Department’s training partner. The academy is certified by POST, the state’s peace officer standards and training body, to deliver the 664 hours required to become a California peace officer, and Orange County agencies’ added requirements bring total training to approximately 1,000 hours, with an average class size of 40. The curriculum combines classroom instruction and practical training in areas including criminal law, patrol procedures, defensive tactics, firearms and community-oriented policing, the City said.

“There’s a lot that goes into earning that badge,” Chief Gene Harris said, adding that the two worked hard to reach this point, the department is excited to have them and they now get to put what they learned into practice in Pasadena. Family members, instructors and department leaders who supported them through the academy attended the graduation.

Pasadena Police Trainees earn $40.1074 an hour, or $83,417.88 a year, while at the academy; on completing it, pay rises to $50.3457 to $58.3857 an hour, or $104,719.16 to $121,442.36 a year, according to the City’s Police Trainee job posting as currently posted. Officers can add premium pay in assignments such as motorcycle patrol, helicopter duty, field training officer, gang detail and special investigations, and a 14.5% differential with an Advanced POST certificate. The Police Department carries 382.25 full-time equivalent positions in the Fiscal Year 2027 recommended budget, unchanged from Fiscal Year 2026.

Graduates leave with a POST Basic Academy Certificate of Completion and 29.5 Santa Ana College semester units, the product of a training partnership between the college and the Sheriff’s Department that dates to 1970. Most recruits in a class are already hired and sponsored by an agency, and unsponsored graduates must still be hired, typically through a written exam, physical agility test, oral interview, background investigation and medical and psychological exams. “Applicants should be fully prepared—mentally, physically, and emotionally,” the college’s academy guidance states.

The Tustin campus, on the former Marine Corps Lighter than Air base property, opened in September 2007 and hosts a minimum of five basic academies a year, according to the Sheriff’s Department. The 53,000-square-foot complex sits on 15 acres at Tustin Legacy and was funded through Measure E, a $337 million bond approved by voters in 2002. The Sheriff’s Department runs its advanced officer training primarily at the Sandra Hutchens Regional Law Enforcement Training Center in Orange.

As they begin their assignments, Rivera-Villatoro and Nelson will continue building on the knowledge and skills developed at the academy while representing the department and serving the community, the City said. Lateral officers hired by Pasadena receive $2,500 after one month, another $2,500 after six months and $3,000 after completing probation, under the City’s lateral posting. Department news is posted at https://www.cityofpasadena.net/police/ and on Instagram at @pasadenapd.