Penn's police department is hiring new officers to strengthen its force, but before recruits can get their guns, they have to hit the books, the track and the gym.
Before being hired by the University, Penn officers have to be certified by a police academy. That means 750 hours of instruction, including both classroom and more practical work.
The academy training, which is mandated by the state, covers topics like handcuffing procedures, firearms and emergency-response training, laws and procedures and investigative strategies.
Potential recruits must also pass a physical fitness test, in which they have to fulfill certain requirements for sit-ups, the bench press, a 300-meter sprint and a 1.5 mile run.
And that's all before they apply to work for the University Police Department, which plans to hire 15 new officers, strengthening the force to 116. Police are currently reviewing 122 applications.
Most academies' programs take about five months to complete and can cost participants more than $4,000.
The academy training is designed "to make sure people are competent when they come out of the classroom and apply that to situations out in the field," said Beverly Young, an administrator for the state commission that mandates the instruction.
Upon being hired to work at Penn, officers participate in four to 16 weeks of field training, depending upon the officer's prior experience, Penn Police Lt. Gary Heller said.
During that time, new officers work with supervising officers on three separate shifts in order to learn about the issues they may encounter throughout the day.
"You have different types of issues for each of the shifts, so it gives them a global sense of what the department is like," Heller said.
Unlike the Philadelphia Police Department, which runs its own academy and provides its recruits with training free of charge, Penn Police requires that all applicants be certified before they apply.
But Heller said that the high cost of training doesn't seem to deter prospective officers from coming to West Philadelphia. He added that the availability of financial-aid packages and the attraction of working for a campus police force like Penn's are strong incentives.
"For a lot of people who want to make law enforcement their career, it's worth the price," he said.
New officers face weekly evaluations and don't go out into the field by themselves until a supervisor determines that their training has been sufficient.
"It's a process that allows the officer to be acclimated to the department," Heller said. "We can also see the strengths of the officer and decide if any additional training should be provided."
After being sworn in to the police force, each officer must undergo both firearm and CPR re-training and participate in 12 hours of on-the-job training every year, as the state requires.
University of South Carolina criminology professor Geoffrey Alpert, who has worked as an adviser to police training programs, said that officer education is one of the most important ways to ensure an effective police force.
"Police officers are going to do what they're trained to do," he said. "The most important thing is to make them remember that it is [their] job ... to protect life and protect property."
