MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK

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November 7, 2009

Training law enforcement officers an expensive proposition

By Liz McMahan

There’s more expense to hiring law officers than just paying their salaries, said Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson.

Wages, benefits and other expenses for a Muskogee County deputy run about $5,000 per month, Pearson said.

Patrol cars are about $27,000 per unit, not including radios and equipment, he said.

The city of Muskogee’s budget for this fiscal year includes nearly $4.8 million for police department operations. That includes $3 million for law enforcement patrol. The rest of the budget is for support personnel — dispatchers, records clerks — and for investigators. Add to that cost another $107,000 for purchasing new police cars and bullet proof vests.

Police officers and deputy sheriffs are required to be certified by the Oklahoma Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training.

The cost of those classes aside, the police agency has to pay for the time officers spend there and their transportation to and from the classes.

In addition, they have to pay someone else to cover the trainee’s time.

Smaller towns often call on the sheriff’s office to cover for them while they send their officers to training, Pearson said.

Pearson said he has two officers in training now and another waiting to go.

Even after the county pays for an officer’s training, there is no guarantee he will stay with the department, Pearson said. They often leave the agency that trains them to go to work at another agency, he said.

Reach Liz McMahan at 684-2926 or lmcmahan @muskogeephoenix.com.

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