Look at the stack of certificates a California officer carries and it may seem like overkill: harassment prevention, safe driving, first aid, tactical communication, less-lethal weapons, patrol shotgun, tactical shield, incident management, pursuit policy, active shooter response… The list never ends — and much of it expires.
Everything is perishable
In California, police knowledge is treated as perishable: CPR and first aid are renewed every 2 years, tactical communication too, arrest and control likewise. Even the expandable baton requires its own certification — leaving the academy qualified on the PR24 does not authorize carrying the expandable without the specific course.
The logic behind it: "where's the certificate?"
None of this is by chance. Everything an officer does in California can turn into a settlement paid by the city — and in a lawsuit over a police action, the first question from the other side's attorney is always the same: "was he trained for this? Where's the certificate?". Constant training protects the officer, the department and the public purse all at once. Every class, by the way, has to be approved by POST, the state commission — nobody invents a course on their own.
The database is not a toy
One of the certificates covers CLETS, the state data system the officer accesses from the car's computer. And here there is no "I didn't know": running someone's information for personal use — pulling a license plate to find out where a person lives, for example — is a felony, grounds for termination and jail time. The training certificate exists precisely to kill the excuse.
The prosecutor on speed dial
One contrast that stuns anyone who knows the Brazilian reality: in Los Angeles, the district attorney's office offers legal update classes constantly to any officer — there was a stretch with a session every week — and the prosecutors hand out their personal cell number: "call before you arrest, call before you act, and I'll help you write the report". It is not unusual for an officer to get a text from a prosecutor clearing up a procedural question. Legal support is not an obstacle here — it is a working partner.
Learning from the ones who survived
Part of the training is listening to the ones who came back. In one of the survival and tactics classes, one of the speakers was an officer who took two rounds to the face while contacting a suspect at a movie theater — he lost part of his jaw and, still going down, drew his pistol and returned fire. The vest that saved the lieutenant with him was 11 years old and stopped every round to the chest. Both are still working. That is the kind of class no manual replaces.
Who's talking here: Eliel Teixeira and Edwin Wu are working police officers in the Los Angeles area, California — born in Brazil, American citizens, with long careers in law enforcement. On Palavrão Tático they talk cop to cop, for officers and enthusiasts, without translating any of it into civilian language.
Heads up: everything described here follows the rules of California — and, on several points, the specific department each of them works for. In other American states (Florida, Texas, New York…) the rules can be quite different.
Watch this part of the episode:
The certification process: probationary period and statewide validity — starting at 13:45 · Palavrão Tático
This article is a reference edition of episode 40 of Palavrão Tático and is subject to edits and editorial additions. For the full conversation, watch the episode. — Updated on 06/08/2026.
