Satellite academies help fill need for police

ST. GEORGE — It's a matter of economics.

A growing number of police officers are quitting their jobs in law enforcement, because they can get a higher-paying job elsewhere — yet the demand remains high for officers and the supply of jobs is still high.

"We just can't keep people in the profession," said Scott Stephenson, the executive director of Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training, which certifies police officers. "They're going to other jobs."

Nowhere is that more evident than in eastern Utah, where the oil boom has pulled many out of their jobs in Uinta Basin schools, grocery stores and law enforcement, and into the oil fields.

"If you're walking down the road down here, someone will pull over and say, 'I'll start you at $30 an hour,"' said Uintah County Sheriff's Lt. John Laursen. "We've lost everybody."

Laursen said the economic boom in the area led to a steady stream of deputies leaving to go work in the oil fields, but the Uintah County Commission recently raised wages to keep officers from leaving. Economic good times elsewhere in the state also led to officers leaving law enforcement for other careers, but that doesn't stop the demand for public safety.

To meet the demand for law enforcement officers, POST has created satellite academies for cadets scattered across the state. They offer a way to train cadets without the expense of sending them to POST's Academy in Sandy.

"We're trying to meet demand. Headquarters in Salt Lake can't meet the demand of every state agency," Stephenson said.

At the POST Council meeting here on Monday, members approved expanding a satellite academy at Dixie State College to include training for corrections officers.

"I hope you'll support it, because we do need it," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said, endorsing the program and noting that local county jails have job openings.

A pilot program just wrapped up at Weber State University that "piggybacked" on a criminal justice degree, shortening the time that cadets would have to go through the POST Academy. Other academies are run through Utah Valley University, the Salt Lake City Police Department, the Utah Department of Corrections, and northern Utah's Bridgerland Applied Technology Center.

Incidentally, an academy at the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College was cancelled because of a lack of applicants. Laursen said his deputies have taken advantage of the other POST academies for training new hires and they appear to be meeting the job demand — for now.

"Right now I've got a whole bunch of young kids out here," he said.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com