Law enforcement personnel in Southwest Missouri now have another option for gaining continuing education hours. And that means they won't have to travel as far. KSMU's Michele Skalicky has more.
Crowder College has been approved by the Missouri Department of Public Safety as a provider of continuing law enforcement education training.
Representatives of the Peace Officers Standards and Training program (POST) visited the campus last year, and approval was presented to the POST Commission in November. The commission recommended approval to Missouri's Department of Public Safety director for a one-year period.
Oren Barnes, criminal justice instructor at Crowder, said this will make access to continuing education easier for law enforcement in Newton and McDonald Counties.
"In the Joplin area, the Missouri Sheriffs Association, Missouri Police Officers Association--there are a few different schools throughout the state that will provide it but nothing specifically for this section of Missouri," he said.
Captain Richard Leavens with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office said he’s excited about the opportunities the new POST status at Crowder offers his agency and other agencies in the area.
Barnes said they’ll not only offer the training on campus, they’ll also take it on the road.
"To the smaller departments where, you know, where a very small department may not have to travel the distance they would have had before. We'll come to them versus them having to come to us for everything," he said.
Lane Roberts, director of public safety in Missouri, initiated the process, Barnes said, and Barnes took it over from there.
Current law enforcement officers are required to get 48 hours of continuing education every three years, but Barnes said that will change in 2017 when 24 hours will be required every year.
He said they’re letting local law enforcement dictate what kind of training they want rather than Crowder deciding what to offer.
