The Project Badge program offered by Owensboro Community & Technical College will allow Owensboro Police Department recruits to earn their associate’s degree during law enforcement training, and it is expected to increase the number of sworn-in officers at OPD.
City commissioners approved the municipal order for Project Badge on Tuesday, providing the opportunity for OPD recruits to earn an associate’s degree in applied science and criminal justice degree.
In February, the City voted to change the requirements for OPD recruits by allowing them to obtain their associate’s degree or equivalent after their hire date and during their training period.
At that time, the City was taking advantage of a statewide program called Educating Heroes.
“The program worked well and the change to our requirements successfully broadened the applicant pool for police officer recruitment,” said City Manager Nate Pagan.
Pagan said the state recently stopped offering the Educating Heroes program, but this municipal order approves a similar program with OCTC.
“It allows police recruits to earn OCTC credits during their training at the law enforcement academy,” he said. “It allows recruits to take their general education requirements at OCTC to earn an associate’s in applied science and criminal justice, thus satisfying the revised educational requirements.”
Commissioner Larry Conder said the Project Badge program is a bigger deal than people may realize, as it could be the first step toward creating a police academy in Owensboro. Conder said the idea had been discussed and supported by the City of Owensboro, Daviess County Fiscal Court, OCTC and OPD.
“We could create our own police academy here in Owensboro,” Conder said. “We spend so much money to send our recruits to Richmond to be trained. Instead of sending our tax dollars to Richmond, let’s keep them here. That hardship [of training so far away] is difficult.”
Some of the logistics for creating a police academy — such as having the teachers, equipment and materials — would have to be vetted, Conder said. But partnerships between OPD, OCTC and a couple of the area colleges could get the ball rolling, he said.
Mayor Tom Watson said he fully supported OPD and the Project Badge program, calling it a “really good program” that the City would continue to build on over the years.
“Back when everybody was talking about defunding the police, I asked [Human Resources Director] Josh Bachmeier and Nate to come in, and we decided that we were going to do the opposite — we were going to try and make it better because we’re so proud of what we have here,” Watson said. “I think it’s a well worth project that can only produce better candidates and make our police department even better.”
Police Chief Art Ealum commended OCTC President Scott Williams for immediately taking action once Ealum told him the Educating Heroes program had ended.
“I want to thank Dr. Williams because in our time of need at the Owensboro Police Department, I picked up the phone and called Dr. Williams and he jumped on board,” Ealum said. “This will be very beneficial for our community in terms of recruiting officers because we value education and we want to keep that trend moving forward here at the Owensboro Police Department.”
