About two dozen police recruits training at a local academy
wandered downtown Morgan Hill, wearing their khaki cadet uniforms,
to assess the public perception of law enforcement Wednesday
morning.
About two dozen police recruits training at a local academy wandered downtown Morgan Hill, wearing their khaki cadet uniforms, to assess the public perception of law enforcement Wednesday morning.
It was an exercise in community policing and part of an extensive police training regimen the recruits are in the midst of completing at the Santa Clara County Justice Training Center.
The recruits knocked on doors of downtown residences and approached local businesses to ask questions about how people view the current relationship between their community and law enforcement agencies.
The information they gathered will be brought back to the classroom, which is in a facility adjacent to the James Boys Ranch east of Morgan Hill, where it will be used as a tool to discuss ways to improve and sustain the relationship between police and the community, according to Sheriff’s Office Lt. Michael Doty, director of the Justice Training Center.
“(The exercise) gives the recruits the opportunity to engage and interact with the community, by proactively contacting citizens. We want to show the recruits how important it is to take the time to get out of the car and go talk to community members,” Doty said.
It is the first time the academy has tried the exercise as part of its community training curriculum, which comprises 18 hours of the 920 hours of basic police training required to become an officer, Doty said.
“We’re looking for progressive and innovative ways to expose the recruits to community relations,” he added.
The current class of 26 contains recruits from the Sheriff’s Office, Santa Clara Police Department, and Scotts Valley Police Department. One recruit, Jeremy Davis, is a Santa Clara County Fire Department arson investigator.
A recruit from the Sheriff’s Office, Tasha Newman, said the members of the public she spoke to downtown felt mostly positive about law enforcement’s participation in the community.
“There are some areas where they say communication could improve, but (the public’s perception of police) is mostly good,” Newman said.
The Justice Training Center is one of 40 police training academies in California. Eighteen law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area send recruits to train at the Santa Clara County facility.
