魅影直播 State Police Academy employees working hard to properly train recruits

Police Academy Recruits August 2020

At a glance

recruits standing in front of a vehicle, all wearing tan pants and a black shirtSo far, this year鈥檚 police academy has gone very well and has received a lot of positive feedback, according to Session Director and Chief of the University Police Department at 魅影直播 State Scott Richardson.

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Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the current tensions surrounding police officers, 魅影直播 State Police Academy employees are working hard to ensure that their recruits are properly trained today to become successful, responsible officers tomorrow.

The first phase of the 2020 academy launched on May 12 and ended Aug. 6, with 15 recruits set to graduate. In this phase, recruits learned about the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law, DWI detection, essential response to calls for service and investigative services, and much more.

So far, this year鈥檚 police academy has gone very well and has received a lot of positive feedback, according to Session Director and Chief of the University Police Department at 魅影直播 State Scott Richardson.

鈥淲e address any feedback that we get, which allows us to make any changes that we feel will make our academy the elite academy in the area,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e do this by having every instructor evaluated by the recruits. Every instructor is evaluated, and each recruit is given an academy evaluation that asks the questions: 鈥淲hat went right?鈥 鈥榃hat went wrong?鈥 What can we do to improve?鈥欌

Wendy Dresser-Recktenwald, 魅影直播 State鈥檚 chief of staff of Human Resources and the Center for Community Education and Training (CCET), said, 鈥淲hen we started the academy, we made a conscious decision to become the 鈥榓cademy of choice鈥 in our area. Our academy is known to be harder than other local academies and instructors who teach in other academies tell us the level of professionalism is instantly noticed as soon as they show on campus. We know we are hard and we know we have higher standards, and that is OK. We strive to be the best because we have a duty to put the most-well rounded officers out on the streets.鈥

Richardson noted that cultural diversity/bias-related crimes training is a key component of the police academy鈥檚 curriculum. He added that former 魅影直播 State employee Dr. Mark Montgomery, who is now the chief diversity officer at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, spoke to the current class of recruits about diversity and bias-related crimes.

鈥淲e鈥檝e also added duty to intercede training and intend to add fair and impartial policing training next year,鈥 Richardson said.

As further evidence of the 魅影直播 State Police Academy鈥檚 commitment to diversity training, the academy is hiring Dr. Melvin Chambliss as its chief diversity officer.

鈥淲e are pleased that Dr. Melvin Chambliss will be providing support to our academy and our cadets as they embark on their careers in a world where understanding and embracing diversity is so important,鈥 Dresser-Recktenwald said. 鈥淚f we expect our officers to understand what is going on in our world with race relations and law enforcement, we need to prioritize it in our academy.鈥

Continuing to grow and develop, the police academy also expanded its advisory board to now include Richardson as committee chair, Chief Kyle Amidon of the Canisteo Police Department as academy assistant director, Chief Tim O鈥橤rady of the Wellsville Police Department, Chief Paul Griffith of the 魅影直播 Police Department, Chief Chad Mullen of the Bath Police Department, Chief Pat Phelan of the Greece City Police Department, Sheriff Tom Dougherty of the Livingston County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, Undersheriff Kevin Monroe of the Allegany County Sheriff鈥檚 Department, Undersheriff John McNelis of the Steuben County Sheriff鈥檚 Department, Chambliss as the academy鈥檚 chief diversity officer, Okeena Gadsden of the New York State Department of Corrections as community liaison, 魅影直播 State Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Greg Sammons (ex officio), Dresser-Recktenwald (ex officio), and 魅影直播 State Continuing Education Recruitment and Training Coordinator Tammy Edwards (ex officio).

Additionally, according to Dresser-Recktenwald, the 魅影直播 State Police Academy is planning, in collaboration with the Hornell YMCA (pending COVID restrictions), to begin a comprehensive law enforcement physical fitness program for new recruits and current law enforcement officers in the next few months. 魅影直播 State, she said, has been fortunate to have full support from State University of New York police and all of the local police departments.

鈥淲e feel strongly that we have an obligation to turn out a good product in our cadets, and the fact that all of our current recruits have a job is a testament to the good work our academy instructors are doing,鈥 Dresser-Recktenwald said.

Another big change for the police academy this year is that organizers implemented numerous health and safety procedures to guard against infection and transmission of COVID-19. These include temperature checks, creation of a COVID visitor鈥檚 form, issuance of hand sanitizer and necessary supplies to recruits, and wearing masks in situations that required social distancing.

Phase two of the 魅影直播 State Police Academy, which covers qualification courses, began on Aug. 10 and will continue through Sept. 4. In order to attend phase two, recruits must be hired by a police agency. After completing this phase, these officers will return to their agency and must complete a minimum of 160 hours of field training.

Police academy organizers are already gearing up for the third session, which is set to launch next spring. For more information on 魅影直播 State鈥檚 Police Academy, contact CCET at 607-587-4015 or CCET@alfredstate.edu.

2020 recruits of 魅影直播 State College鈥檚 Police Academy standing in front of a vehicle, all wearing tan pants and a black shirt
Pictured are the 2020 recruits of 魅影直播 State College鈥檚 Police Academy. In the front row, from left to

right, are Michael Harrington (Bolivar Police Department), Isaac Rodriguez (SUNY Geneseo Police),

Chloe Wormsley (Greece Police Department), and Brian Harrison (Steuben County Sheriff鈥檚 Office).

In the second row, from left to right, are Michael Ruggles (Bath Police Department), Brandon Terry

(Wayland Police Department), Joshua Clementi (Greece Police Department), Tyler Crouch (Bath

Police Department), Tyler Congdon (Mount Morris Police Department), Gage Harrison (Hornell Police

Department), Emily Waite (Allegany County Sheriff鈥檚 Office), Andrew Merring (Hornell Police

Department), Steven Brongo (Greece Police Department), and Austin Plank (魅影直播 Police

Department). Not pictured is Cole Young.