The Clark County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) has been awarded $58,248.80 in grant funding to boost recruitment efforts through programming at area schools and Clark State College. Funding was provided to a dozen local law enforcement agencies from the Ohio Office of Law Enforcement Recruitment.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office will partner with school superintendents within seven districts of Clark County: Clark-Shawnee, Greenon, Northeastern, Northwestern, Southeastern, Springfield City Schools and Tecumseh. School resource officers working in the high schools within the districts will work directly with principals, staff and students. The agency will also launch a marketing plan aimed at engaging female and minority candidates.
“The Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Clark State College recognize the need to have a diverse law enforcement workforce,” said Karen Benton, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice Program Coordinator at Clark State. “This recruitment partnership will provide high school students with the opportunity to become more familiar with the expansive law enforcement processes.”
Benton said students involved in this program will get hands on experience as a a revised cadet program housed at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office cadet and gain first-hand knowledge of law enforcement agency responsibilities.
An outreach program offered for 6 weeks quarterly in one-hour increments will be available to interested participants.
This program allows participants to gain information regarding Clark State’s criminal justice programs. It provides young students (18-year-olds) with the opportunity to take approximately two courses each semester and then proceed to Clark State’s Police Academy at age 20. Upon successful completion of the police academy, the student would receive the course substitution credits that would finalize their Criminal Justice-Law Enforcement degree from Clark State.
Deputies assigned as resource officers at participating schools are able to provide face-to-face information regarding the benefits of becoming a law enforcement officer and promote programming that facilitates to that end at Clark State.
Individuals who wish to become deputies would be able to expedite this process due to the partnership that has developed between the CCSO and the CSC police academy. The CCSO has chosen the CSC police academy to provide training to potential deputies. Upon completion of the CSC academy, participants would be required to pass OPOTA certification processes.
“This partnership will provide students with the ability to work toward a self- paced degree from Clark State in criminal justice, leading to the ability to move on to the Clark State Police Academy,” said Benton. “Upon graduation and OPOTA testing, a student following this course of action could become eligible to become a law enforcement officer.”