Tulsa Police gets the green light to try out a regional police academy.
Two recruits from Sand Springs will join 19 TPD recruits Monday at the Tulsa academy. Sand Springs Police Chief Mike Carter said budget cuts left the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training about a year behind in certifying cops itself.
"That really puts us in a bind because state law allows you to work a police officer for a certain amount of time before you actually get them certified, but we as an agency have a policy against that," Carter said.
Sending recruits to the TPD academy instead of the CLEET academy in Ada will significantly cut down on travel costs, and the regional academy is actually longer.
"Our officers typically, when they go to the state academy, would train for 16 weeks," Carter said. "We're going to send them for 26 weeks to the Tulsa police academy."
Recruits from outside agencies shouldn't affect TPD.
"These two additional recruits from Sand Springs will not put any hindrance on our training or on our space at the academy," said TPD Public Information Officer Leland Ashley.
Sand Springs Police and TPD will contribute instructors and resources to the yearlong pilot program.
