22 cadets celebrated completing the police academy at Rhodes State College.
LIMA, OH (WLIO) - 22 cadets celebrated completing the police academy at Rhodes State College. We learned more about the program that is filling the gaps in staffing local departments.
The program has grown so popular with local departments that they now sponsor most of the students, covering their tuition and, in many cases, paying the future officers while they study.
Rhodes State College began offering their accelerated summer police academy program back in 2020. The class of 2024 saw 22 men and women graduate, twice as many as last year. The 740-hour course is a partnership between the college and local law enforcement, who work as instructors to solve the shortage of officers.
"There's been kind of an exodus of law enforcement officers leaving the profession. It started in about 2020 due to a lot of things, including social issues, that were taking place. At the same time, there was a decrease in the number of people wanting to get into the program, so we had to work our way through that," explained Mark Ernst, the Commander of the Rhodes State Law Enforcement Academy.
The program has grown so popular with local departments that they now sponsor most of the students, covering their tuition and, in many cases, paying the future officers while they study.
The 740-hour course is a partnership between the college and local law enforcement, who work as instructors to solve the shortage of officers.
"This academy's been awesome for us at our department. We've have two cadets in that are graduating and will be joining us after their state test. It makes all the difference the fact that we have Rhodes State right here in Lima, that we can be local, we're not sending somebody across the state for their training. We get to stay engaged with the cadets while they're in the academy. It gives us a leg up once they hit the streets," added Lieutenant Patrick Green of the Wapakoneta Police Department, who is also an instructor at the academy.
Each of the 22 graduates already has a job lined up and will be staying in the region. Nine departments, all in or within an hour of Allen County, will be hiring the cadets full-time.
Each of the 22 graduates already has a job lined up and will be staying in the region.
"There's no words for it. I mean, I'm serving where I was born and raised, I feel like I've got top-notch training that's just going to make me better at what I do to serve my community. It's something I've always wanted to do from a young age. I had the passion for it, and like I said, it's just in your blood," said Timothy Moe, who graduated from the academy and will be going to work at the Hardin County Sheriff's Office.
