North Judson Town Marshal Kelly Fisher talked with town council members last week about how NJPD is working to achieve self-sufficiency.
She noted, “We’d like to get our department pretty much self-sufficient to where we could do all of our training in-house. We’ve got our training center there at the PD now.”
Marshal Fisher highlighted a few ways they’re accomplishing that feat. For instance, she said that Officer Jamie Conklin recently completed the training to become a certified firearms instructor.
She explained the benefits of having their own instructor on the force, “When we do our qualifications, he can do that.” She continued, “Also we’re going to reach out to other departments and see if we can bring in a little bit of revenue with that.”
Fisher said that all of the full-time officers now specialize in a particular area. She’s trained in defensive tactics as well as emergency vehicle operations (EVO), Officer Rico Simpson is the force’s K9 handler and Chief Deputy Frank Thomas specializes in detective work and crime scene processing.
She added that Officers Simpson and Thompson are continuing to look for ways to gain new skills within their specific areas of expertise.
“Rico has Jimy and he’s is looking into a DRE class, that’s Drug Recognition Expert. Also Chief Deputy Frank Thomas, I enrolled him in Reid Interrogation and Interview class coming up in February.”
Fisher explained that she has attended the four-day interrogation and interview class before and feels that it will be beneficial for Officer Thomas. She submitted a $575 purchase order related to the class which council members approved unanimously.
Marshal Fisher told members that she’ll be reaching out other departments to let them know when specific classes will be available. If there are any law enforcement agencies interested in training with the North Judson Police Department, give them a call at 574-772-5914.
