Oklahoma House of Representatives
February 26, 2004

By MIKE W. RAY
House Media Division Director
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Standards maintained by other states practically compel Oklahoma to beef up its basic training course for law enforcement officers, Rep. Jim Newport indicated Thursday.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives apparently agreed with the Ponca City Republican, because it passed his House Bill 2577 by an overwhelming margin, 95-2. The bill was delivered to the Senate, where it is sponsored by Sen. Frank Shurden, D-Henryetta.

HB 2577 would lengthen the basic training course for full-time salaried Oklahoma police officers and other peace officers by 16.5 percent: from 326 clock hours now to 380 hours, effective July 1, 2005.

Newport, vice chairman of the House Committee on Criminal Justice, said Oklahoma ranks next-to-last in the nation for hours required to train and certify full-time peace officers. The national average is more than 600 hours, he said; Louisiana requires 320 hours; Arkansas, 480 hours; Kansas, 560; Missouri, 470 to 600; New Mexico, 840; and Texas, 576 now but going to up 600 this year.

Because of the relatively low hourly training requirements in this state, Newport said, several other states will not recognize Oklahoma peace officer certification training when officers trained here seek jobs elsewhere.

The basic-training program accredited by Oklahoma's Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) includes courses on crime and drug prevention, crisis intervention, youth and family intervention techniques, plus two hours of training in recognizing, investigating and preventing abuse and exploitation of elderly citizens.

If the number of required police academy hours is not increased, "We cannot offer training in other timely and needed topics unless we delete some current topics," Newport told his colleagues.

Charles Spencer, assistant director of CLEET, said Oklahoma's certification training lacks needed hours for topics such as terrorism, first-responder training, Spanish, alternatives to use of force, identity theft and computer crimes, hate crimes, child
abuse/exploitation, narcotics/methamphetamine lab training, radar operation, and additional training in recognizing and preventing abuse of the elderly.

"These are subjects we simply cannot cover in the current academy, even though the needs are there," Spencer said.

Besides extending the hours needed for certification, HB 2577 decrees that anyone appointed or elected as a police/peace officer would be required to complete the extended training course within six months "from the date of appointment or taking office..." Currently the time limit is one year.

Police chiefs, sheriffs and their deputies are required by law to be trained and certified within six months of commission or appointment, but other officers are allowed a full year. "This latter group, who consequently wait longer to get trained and certified, comprises the majority of Oklahoma peace officers," Newport said.

On average, approximately 500 officers enroll in the CLEET academy each year for basic law enforcement training, Spencer said. "We have a high turnover rate" in police departments and sheriff's offices, he added.

House Bill 2577 is Newport's third attempt in his eight-year legislative career to strengthen Oklahoma's law enforcement training requirements. His two earlier efforts encountered resistance in the Senate, at least in part because of financial concerns; consequently, HB 2577 would expand the training academy "subject to the availability of
money..."
Spencer said the additional training would cost an estimated $44,500 to $50,500 more each year, depending upon the courses offered.

"We have the funds in hand already; we're not asking for more money," he said. "We just need permission from the Legislature to increase the certification training requirement."

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