Police officers all across the country are under more scrutiny than ever before.
With protests breaking out in major cities and law enforcement budgets being gutted, some might think law enforcement hasn’t changed. But that isn’t the case, as new police officers have to undergo rigorous training and college coursework before becoming an officer.
Rickey Williams Sr., a criminal justice instructor at Danville Area Community College, says officers have to be able to account for their actions.
“You have to be able to articulate what happen, what you saw, what you’ve done and how you did it, in a court of law,” Williams explained. “If you are unable to speak orally, or to translate your processes into written form, then we already have a problem.”
Williams says where officers used to be hired out of high school, police departments today require several classroom hours even before specialized department training.
Danville Police Commander Terry McCord says finding qualified applicants is harder now. He says the field of applicants for a position used to always be several hundred, but now is down to less than 100.
The City of Danville is currently seeking applicants for probationary police officers with the Danville Police Department. Applications can be found on the city’s website, and are due by September 30th. New hires must have a minimum of 30 credit hours from an accredited college.
