By Marissa Millender
Wichita Falls Times Record News
WICHITA FALLS, Texas — As 12 rookies step onto the streets of Wichita Falls today, 12 citizens are getting their pens, notebooks and backpacks ready to go to the classroom to follow in their steps.
The Wichita Falls Police Department graduated 12 new officers Friday morning, including one man whose father still works with the department. The next police academy - the 62nd - will start in full swing Monday morning as 12 new employees report for duty.
The recruits will receive their gear, including classroom materials. The first several weeks of the course will be spent mostly in the classroom as they learn and absorb information about the traffic code, the penal code and the code of criminal procedures.
“Everything they are going to be expected to know,” said Sgt. Eddie Haisten, who’s in charge of training.
The quick turnaround of the class is the quickest he’s heard of, Haisten said. “That’s about as close to back to back as you can get.”
He said the people brought in to train officers are ready to go and up to the challenge of another class.
Even with the 12 officers on the force from the 61st academy, Haisten said the department is still short several officers. By the time the 62nd Academy graduates Sept. 11, he expects more openings.
“We have to project out to September,” he said, and determine how many spots will be open then, calculating coming retirements into the mix. “You have a lot of retirements in the November and December range, and we look at that also.”
He said with Friday’s batch of rookies and the ones who will graduate in September, the force will be close to full. “That’s what we wanted to get accomplished.”
The officers who graduated Friday will start - some as early as today - riding with a field training officer. They will be accompanied by one of these officers for about three months before they take over their own work.
“We’re just looking forward to getting officers and putting them out on the street and getting them to work in the community and protect and serve our citizens,” Haisten said.
Copyright 2009 Wichita Falls Times Record News