HUTCHINSON, Kan. — When current Hutchinson Police Chief Jeffrey Hooper came on board, there were a lot of changes made. The changes included a series of terminations in connection with the way a traffic stop involving a fellow officer was handled. Others left afterward for various reasons. It left the department well short of a full staff.
But the numbers are going back up and, currently, the department is just four officers short of a full staff, which numbers around 75. What that has also done is significantly lower the average age of the force and its experience level — something that is being watched closely by Hooper.
Of the staff of 75, more than a third have less than two years of experience. Currently, 13 officers are in some phase of their training that spans a total of 38 weeks.
"We’ve talked a lot about that internally and that’s a challenge," Hooper said. "The great thing is that those new officers are not going to know anything but the culture and the focus of the agency now moving forward. They’re hungry and want to get out and make a difference in their community."
Hooper says the department is constantly looking at the new officers to see where there might be areas in need of improvement.
"We’re able to pair that trainee up with someone in the department that specializes in training that specific area," Hooper said. "It may be report writing, it may be geography, it may be communication skills."
Currently, the department is four officers short, although there are 13 in training, so the number is closer to 17. Two more officers are set to retire from the force at the end of the year, which will drop the number of vacancies to six.
"It’s a growing experience for everybody," Hooper said. "It’s an exciting time, it’s a challenging time, but this is what we’re going through."