A study released by the University of South Carolina this week says the state's law enforcement agencies rank nearly last in the nation in training. Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Chief Wendell Davis says that's not too far from reality.
The bottom line of the USC study is that South Carolina's law enforcement officers do not get enough training for what the study considers an intense and stressful job.
"I think it's a valid study, particularly when you consider the hours," said Davis, who is also president of the S.C. Law Enforcement Officer's Association. "I think it's good that the University of South Carolina article sheds light on the problem. I think this problem is a serious one, particularly for a smaller agency."
Conducted by university researchers Drs. Michael Smith and Jeffrey Rojek, the study looks at required training hours and curriculum. The study is said to be the first to look at basic training for the state's law enforcement trainees, which is conducted by the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy.
"South Carolina is at least 10 years behind in training and the number of hours it requires," Smith said. "We've fallen behind."
Smith said the required hours for basic training in South Carolina have essentially remained flat since 1998, with only 376 hours -- or 9.5 weeks -- required today.
In 2006, South Carolina ranked ahead only of Louisiana for having the fewest required hours of basic training. In sharp contrast is West Virginia, which leads the nation with a requirement of 1,582 hours of basic training.
"In many of these small agencies, new officers receive an inadequate nine-and-a-half weeks of basic training at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy and are then expected to perform a complex job with little or no additional training," Rojek said.
Davis said training needs have grown during the past decade due to increased domestic terrorist threats.
"What has happened is law enforcement agencies, particularly medium-sized agencies, have had to increase the training basics, and that's particularly after the 9/11 event," Davis said.
Citing an incident last month in which two foreign nationals were arrested for transporting what police said were pipe bombs in their car trunk, Davis said it was specialized training that brought about the arrests.
Davis said he feels the Berkeley County deputies who became suspicious during a stop for speeding had training to look for incendiary devices.
"If he does not get that training, then he does not know to look for things like this," Davis said.
The USC study was critical of South Carolina's basic requirement that a law enforcement officer attend only one police academy -- the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy -- for training. The study claims that smaller agencies -- those with fewer than 20 officers -- typically do not supplement with additional training once in the field.
As of last year, law enforcement recruits in South Carolina received no training in problem-solving, community policing or first aid, the report says. In contrast, according to a 2002 Bureau of Justice survey, 64 percent of law enforcement agencies nationally provide training in problem solving, and the percentages are even more dramatic for community policing (90 percent) and first aid (99 percent).
Davis said manpower issues have to be understood as an agency with fewer officers is hard-pressed to send personnel to additional classes. Small municipalities sending one of their five officers to class lose 20 percent of their entire force.
"It's sort of like, 'Let's do it all up front,'" Davis said of an officer's training.
Locally, Davis said officer candidates with the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety are required to successfully complete a 10-week field training course after basic training at the Criminal Justice Academy. In addition, officers are sent to specialized courses "constantly," Davis said.
However, Davis says Orangeburg may be the exception rather than the rule.
"Regardless of the number of hours you get in basic training, you still need practical application of basic training," he said. "We discussed this at SCLEOA a few years ago, and part of that discussion was that training was not increasing but had remained flat."
Conducting their research from November 2006 to January 2007, Smith and Rojek say that their study is only quantitative and does not draw conclusions on the quality of training that new officers receive. The researchers examined national law enforcement data and conducted a written survey of 65 South Carolina agencies, which represents less than 28 percent of the state's city and sheriff's departments.
T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.