Published: August 07, 2008 12:50 pm            

Patience pays off for PD; recruits fit right in

By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

For the first time in a long time, the Jacksonville Police Department is close to filling all of its job vacancies.

Back in March, the department made four hires — two were fresh out of the police academy and two were just entering the academy.

Despite numerous open slots on the department’s roster, Assistant Chief John Page said a decision was made early-on not to rush the process of filling those voids.

“Chief (Reece) Daniel and myself had several conversations where we decided that it would be better to take our time and remain short than to hire a less-qualified officer, and our patience has definitely paid off,” Page said. “Two of the hires we made in March, Officers Daniel Burrow and Alan Oliver, completed their field training last month and have been doing a superb job on their own. And the other two hires, Officers Nathan Winship and Jeffrey Dockter, who graduated from the academy and joined the department on July 25, have also worked out really, really well so far.”

Page said the department changed its hiring policy early in the year, allowing people who have not yet gone through the police academy to apply for positions with JPD. Previously, applicants were required to already be a certified peace officer in order to apply for a position in Jacksonville.

“Since we’ve changed our hiring process to allow us to sponsor somebody through the academy, we’ve seen a significant increase, not only in the number of applicants but also in the quality of the applicants,” he said. “This is the first time that the police department has taken the initiative to go ahead and hire recruits and put them through the police academy while they were on the city payroll, and it has worked out well for us as far as the quality is concerned.”

JPD requires that its new officers — after graduating from the 16-week police academy — work their way through the department’s own field training program, which takes between 13 and 17 weeks to complete and pairs them with numerous veteran officers.

According to Page, the field training program, which he helped create, is designed to put the book smarts the recruits learned in academy to practical use.

“Basically the field training program takes recruits through the entire police academy curriculum again except it’s hands-on — you are actually out in the field doing it. Everything that you have covered in the classroom, you are now covering again in real-life situations,” Page said. “In the academy they are doing mock domestic violence calls and mock traffic stops. Now they are doing the real thing, and there’s a big difference between a mock domestic disturbance and the real thing.”

Burrow, who paid his own way through the police academy and graduated as valedictorian of his academy class, recently completed the field training portion of his employment and has been cleared to patrol on his own. He said he has known that he wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement since before graduating from high school.

As a local person, Burrow said he feels a connection to Cherokee County that makes enforcing the law in Jacksonville special to him.

“This is your family and your friends, and by doing your job you are looking out for them. We are looking out for everybody’s interests, but it’s a little different when you are helping to protect your own community,” he said.

Winship, who also has roots in Cherokee County, is currently paired with Officer Eric Dawes for the first portion of his field-training program. A member of JPD’s Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association, he said the department has gone out of its way to embrace the new recruits as part of the family.

“We have all definitely been welcomed by the entire department. Even while going through the academy, when we would report in to Chief Page and Chief Daniel, everybody was asking us how soon until we could get out and join the department,” Winship said. “Even while we were still back in school, everybody was making us feel like we were a part of the group.”

All four of JPD’s new recruits are from East Texas, and Page said hiring people familiar with the area was one of the goals of opening up the application process.

“I can’t begrudge anybody for wanting to go on to bigger and better things one day, but if you are fortunate enough to get a local person, they are more apt to want to stay in this area,” Page said. “We were fortunate to draw several local young men who were strong applicants to the department, and they have all done an outstanding job since being hired. We are very proud of them all.”

        

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