Pittsburg Police hires start training in Hutchinson - KOAM TV 7

The Pittsburg Police Department has three new hires and plans to make at least one more at the start of the new year.  However, unlike Missouri and other states, Kansas police departments can hire officers who are not yet certified.

Those uncertified officers have one year to attend a 14 week Police Academy located in Hutchinson, Kansas.

"On top of these 14 weeks at the Academy we have an additional 14 weeks of in-house field officer training that we conduct here for the these officers," says Major Brent Narges of the Pittsburg Police Department.

Pittsburg police officers also must complete 40 hours of training, such as firearm classes, every year on the force.

The new officers should be ready to patrol the streets of Pittsburg starting in March according to Major Narges, an extended training period that officers say is well worth the wait.

"I think it's definitely worth it," says Miranda Christensen, Patrol 1 for the Pittsburg PD.  "You get the training that you need to protect your community and also to protect yourself."

As far as less staffing in the fleet, Narges says it is something many departments face and that the public does not need to worry about less patrols on the street.

"At times a certain shift may be short, we may have to grab another officer from a different shift, or we may have to have overtime in order to fill that shift, so those are just some of the challenges that we do face," says Narges.

Narges says that in addition to the new hire at the start of next year, the Pittsburg Police may see an expansion of it's force by a few hire in the next few years.