SAVANNAH — Savannah Technical College has selected John Warenzak as the director of its Peace Officer Academy.

He is responsible for oversight of all instruction, curriculum development, administrative and budgetary aspects for the College’s Peace Officer Academy (Basic Law Enforcement) program.

Warenzak has been an instructor with STC’s Peace Officer Academy for eight years. He retired as a Captain with Chatham County law enforcement after 32 years of service. He served as a homicide investigator, special victims investigator, narcotics agent, vice unit detective, violent crimes detective and member of the underwater search and recovery team amongst other specialized units. He is a Specialized POST instructor possessing certifications in or as a general instructor, applied suicide intervention skills instructor, field officer training instructor, TASER instructor, police officer training instructor, medical emergencies and defensive tactics instructor.

He has a bachelor’s degree in American history and a master’s degree in public history from Armstrong Atlantic State University.

The Basic POST Certification Technical Certificate of Credit (TCC) provides students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to become competent law enforcement officers. The 11-week cohort program uses classroom instruction pertaining to criminal justice theory and the prevailing principles of modern law enforcement, as well as practical application of pertinent enforcement skills. College coursework contains the entire Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Basic Law Enforcement Training Course so that successful completion of the program will qualify the student to be a state-certified peace officer. Students that qualify for HOPE may receive additional funds through the HOPE Career Grant with this program.

This TCC offers a first step in law enforcement. Select courses in the Basic Law Enforcement Certificate program transfer toward an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Criminal Justice. Many agencies pay all or part of the tuition for officers to work toward degrees in criminal justice, police science, administration of justice, or public administration and pay higher salaries to those who earn one of those degrees.