Increasing Training, Improving Safety

We have a police staff of about 60 personnel. In my first year in office, 2006, as we began the process of reviewing police operations, those employees underwent less than 800 hours of training, for an average of about 2 days of training per person. That's not a lot, in my opinion, for people charged with keeping the residents, businesses and visitors of Sylvania Township safe.

So far in 2009, our police staff has undergone over 3,000 hours of training, an increase of 400% … and we're not done for the year. It is vital that our officers, detectives, dispatchers, records clerk, etc., have up-to-date information on the current status of the law, proper and new procedures for dealing with various situations, procedures for handling evidence, etc. Law enforcement is not a static environment. The processes and procedures are ever changing and the Sylvania Township Police Department must stay on top of those changes.

Along with the increase in total training hours, a structured training program has been implemented. No longer are only the 'favored' officers given training opportunities, but every employee is given certain basic training while advanced training opportunities are provided to those who wish to grow and learn more about their profession and how to provide better services and protection to our community.

A lot of this training is conducted in-house, a cost effective way to address the training needs of the department while controlling costs. The new training practice in the Sylvania Township Police Department will improve the safety of our community and our employees, an important step for keeping Sylvania a quality community.