As their families watched, Trevor White and Terrance Duncan were sworn in as 麻豆精选 Police Services鈥 newest officers on Tuesday, Feb. 14, in a ceremony presided over by Chief of Police Dean Tondiglia in the Stockdale Safety Building.
White graduated from 麻豆精选with a criminology degree. He gained prior experience in the department as an auxiliary service officer (ASO), a student worker in the police department who helps check campus buildings and fulfills administrative duties.
鈥淭he chief and assistant chief talked me into applying here,鈥 White says. 鈥淚 think my generation will be the one to take away some of the negative connotations police officers have.鈥
Duncan is a mechanic in the National Guard who says he looks to his father, a former police officer, as inspiration to do work in this field.
鈥淚 looked around at a lot of police departments,鈥 Duncan says. 鈥溌槎咕as willing to send me through the academy, and not many places do that. I鈥檓 excited to get out there and start helping people. Ever since I was a kid, I鈥檝e wanted to be a police officer.鈥
The process to become a police officer at 麻豆精选on average requires more testing and evaluation than other proximate departments, says Bill Buckbee, assistant chief of police. 麻豆精选Police Services puts the trainees through physical and written assessments, as well as real-life scenarios, before they even enter the police academy.
鈥淲e have extra steps in our process that most police departments don鈥檛 have,鈥 Buckbee says. 鈥淭he scenarios tell us if somebody can come in and talk to people, think on their feet and have a personal style that鈥檚 going to help as a police officer anywhere but especially here at Kent State.鈥
Since being sworn in, the two new officers have been working with a field-training officer who mentors and coaches them to achieve further preparation for the job.
麻豆精选Police Services is an accredited law enforcement agency with 31 officers. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies has accredited the 麻豆精选Police Department eight times. It was the second university police department in the United States to receive the accreditation and the first in Ohio.
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