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Benton hires six police officers |
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Tuesday, 02 September 2008 |
One of the best groups in a while, sergeant says
The Benton Police Department has hired six new officers and Sgt. Kevin Russell said he believes they will benefit the city.
“I think this is one of the best groups in a while,” he said. “I think they will serve the citizens of Benton very well.”
Russell said the department hires new officers at least once a year after each prospective hire passes a civil service test and background check.
“They have to also take some physical and psychological tests,” Russell explained.
The new additions are Eli Fowlkes, 26; Douglas Speer, 24; Phillip Booher, 24; Nicholas Kinsey, 23; Steven Beck, 28; and Andrew Talbot, 22. The new officers have just completed two weeks of training and will start shifts on Monday with other officers for field training.
In January, the officers will leave for a 12-week training session at the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in Camden.
According to ALETA, the goal of the 480-hour course is to professionalize law enforcement officers through education, training and employment standards.
Training includes instruction in standard police tactics; firearms; legal, educational and technical skills; and practical exercises.
To qualify for graduation, officers must maintain academic scores of at least 70 percent on each examination and consistently fire with at least 80 percent accuracy during firearms training exercises.
After passing the ALETA training, Russell said the officers could possibly work solo at the department by April. The new officers said they are excited about joining the force and look forward to completing training.
“This is something I have always wanted to do,” Beck said. “I have family in law enforcement, so it has interested me for a long time.”
Beck said he would like to become a drug enforcement officer and hopes to someday work with a K-9 unit.
Like Beck, Talbot said he also grew up with law enforcement in his blood.
“My dad [Capt. Andrew Talbot Sr.] is an officer in Lake Village,” he said. “I saw him do it and knew at a young age that [law enforcement] was what I wanted to do.”
Talbot said his dad is “excited” about him becoming an officer.
“He wants to see what kind of stories I can come back and share with him,” Talbot said.
Kinsey said he has wanted to be an officer “since childhood” and has enjoyed the training he has gone through at the department since being hired Aug. 18. He said he hopes to work patrol.
Booher said he got the idea of becoming an officer after taking criminal justice classes at Ouachita Technical College in Malvern.
He said after training with the police department, he hopes to obtain a criminal justice degree and possibly become a detective on the force.
Speer, who said he is a former U.S. Marine, has a unique view of why he decided to become an officer.
“I know it almost sounds cliché, but I think I was put here to help people,” he said. “I want to work here because this is my community.”
The sixth officer hired, Fowlkes, said he has worked as a reserve officer with the Benton police force since 2006.
“I loved the work that I was already doing with the department,” he said. “I decided to make the transition to a full-time officer.”
Asked how the training has been so far, a few of the officers said it was often intense but also fun at times.
Speer, who served four active years with the Marines including a tour in Afghanistan as a Humvee gunner, said he is not only used to the training but felt it will serve them well in the long run.
“I am used to the training and yelling,” he said, “but I think in the long run, you will always go back to the training you learned. All the little things we learn will carry with me. But, a lot of police work is not all hoopla, it is a lot about public image. We have to learn to take pride in the uniform.”
Booher also summed up his feelings about the training experience the group has encountered thus far.
“We have learned a lot of things,” he said. “At times it has been boring with some of the class work, but really I love it and I know the things we are learning will help us as officers.”
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