New Cops Need Training Before Applying

On the job police officer certification and training will be a thing of the past in Upper Moreland Township.

The township’s board of commissioners approved a resolution Monday night to amend civil service rules pertaining to the hiring of new police. Under the newly approved resolution, police officers would be required to have state-mandated training completed prior to submitting an application, according to Township Manager David Dodies.

In the years following 2009, the township spent about $25,000 per officer to cover the costs associated with the necessary 800 hours of law enforcement training, Dodies told Patch. Before 2009, the state reimbursed the township for 65 percent of the officer’s salary, as well as per diem expenses and paid tuition in full, Upper Moreland Police Chief Michael Murphy told the commissioners.

Do you think Upper Moreland Township should cover the costs of police certification? Tell us in the comments.

Murphy said the township cost has represented “significant dollars” and added that hiring officers prior to certification tends to produce candidates who “simply aren’t qualified.”

The amendment is “more in tune with what everyone else does,” Murphy said.

Commissioner Lisa Romaniello said that while the “majority of the commissioners said they wanted to take on the cost fully,” the township’s funding of uncertified police officers has not been beneficial.

“It’s important that we look for candidates who have their Act 120 when they apply,” she said.

That will be the case going forward–after the next hiring–Dodies said. The commissioners accepted the resignation of police officer Peter Yeager on Monday night.

Yeager’s departure leaves a vacancy in the 35-member police department, Murphy told Patch. Dodies said the amended rules regarding hiring would not apply until the next opening. “One more person” could potentially be hired without the training, meaning the township would be on the hook for the roughly $25,000 expense, Dodies said.

As it stands now, the township does not have a certified candidate on its civil service list, according to Murphy. The top candidate does not have police training and the next police academy is not until October, Murphy said, implying that a new hire could be at least a few months away.

“We’re getting down the list a ways,” Murphy said of the civil service list, adding that the certification takes about five months to obtain.