NY Security training academy owner sentenced to jail for running bogus classes
ALBANY NY Sept 25 2020— A Buffalo firearms instructor who admitted to running bogus gun safety and “peace officer” courses will spend four months in jail and three years on probation, Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday.
Dennis Brennan, 66, was sentenced this week after pleading guilty back in July to defrauding students and the state and falsifying documents that allowed improperly trained security guards to carry guns.
“By giving the green light for uncertified individuals to carry guns, Dennis Brennan has put our communities at greater risk of gun violence,” James said. “It is illegal and immoral for anyone to use fraudulent and deceitful behavior in an effort to line their own pockets, and endanger the lives of New Yorkers in the process.”
Brennan, the owner of the Peace Officer Training Academy in Buffalo, admitted he accepted payment from students for Security Guard Firearms courses and provided them with fraudulent certificates without actually training them or even requiring the students to fire their weapons.
New York requires a security guard to complete a 47-hour firearms training course along with an annual eight-hour training course to maintain an armed security guard license.
Brennan, who charged upward of $1,000 a class, also promised students they would become certified peace officers, even though the courses did not meet state requirements.
“Proper training of police, peace officers and security personnel is critical to public safety and that’s why DCJS, the Municipal Police Training Council and the Security Guard Advisory Council set high standards for training and certification,” said Division of Criminal Justice Services executive deputy commissioner Michael Green.
