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NEWS
| OCTOBER 27, 2005
Police
Officer training updated
New police program aims to improve
relations with UT System campuses.
By Heather
Ann White
The Shorthorn staff
UTA police traveled to Bandera, Texas, to present a new officer
training program that will help tie the department to the campus
community, Lieutenant Mike McCord said.
McCord and Police Chief Bob Hayes presented the program last week
to UT System police officials, demonstrating new improvements in
police training. McCord said they are the only department in the
UT System implementing the program.
The new program, Police Training Officer, was developed in Boulder,
Colo., in 2000. It was intended to reform Field Training Officer,
the previous officer training program developed in the 1970s.
McCord said the UTA police implemented the program in 2004 after
researching other training options. He said that while policing
has changed since the 1970s, the department’s officer training
had not.
“It’s a different style of learning by incorporating
problem solving,” he said. “Invariably, when you get
out there on patrol, nothing is ever like it was in training. It’s
more effective if you can teach someone to solve a problem.”
McCord said the program also provides trainees with several evaluations
through the 15-week training period. The evaluations place more
emphasis on meeting new members of the community, he said.
The police department requires new officers to create a portfolio
of specific elements of the university, such as the different campus
departments, demographics and problem areas.
McCord said that at the end of the course, officers are asked to
identify and propose solutions to specific problems on campus, such
as underage drinking.
“[Officers] are learning more about the campus itself and
the community we serve,” he said. “It gets them involved
with the community-oriented policing aspect and problem solving
from the get-go.”
McCord said he hopes the program serves the campus better and helps
trainees establish partnerships with other campus departments.
“The end product is the officers will be better suited to
solve problems, better in tune with the community and have a better
idea of what UTA is all about,” he said.
Assistant Police Chief James Ferguson said the reformed version
of the program is doing well at UTA.
“It’s more flexible as opposed to the rigid curriculum
and more personalized for both the trainee and training officers,”
he said. “It’s all been positive.”
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