Marshall PD to begin sponsoring recruits through academy

The Marshall Police Department was given permission by the village board to begin sponsoring incoming officers through the police academy on Tuesday, May 14.

The board voted 7-0 in favor of the permanent change to the department’s hiring qualifications.

Currently, applicants for officer positions must either have completed police academy training or be in the process of doing so. Passing through the academy is a requirement to work as a certified law enforcement officer in Wisconsin.

Now, the department will be able to hire officers before this step and provide funding for an applicant’s academy fees after the fact.

Police Chief John Nault noted that if new recruits attend the police academy at Madison College, the Wisconsin Department of Justice will reimburse the department fully. If the newly hired officer fails the 4-month training regiment, then the cost burden would fall on them.

The board asked if there were guarantees that candidates would work for the department following the completion of their training. Chief Nault noted that as a part of the sponsorship agreement, new officers would sign employment contracts for at least three years.

Chief Nault also clarified that this is a practice many other departments in Dane County have already taken up to draw more applicants. He reasoned that the change would make Marshall’s openings more competitive.

“In the past we’ve never had to do this because we’ve gotten enough applications. In the current state of law enforcement we’re just not getting the applications that we used to and the qualified applicants that we’re used to. We just need to be more creative, the traditional way of hiring just isn’t working anymore,” Chief Nault said on Tuesday.

The Marshall Police Department has had a vacant police officer opening since February. They have only received five applications to date, none of which have resulted in a hiring.

Chief Nault said that soonest openings in Madison College’s police academy training are next January, though space could open up this fall. The department hopes that this permanent change will benefit their current search and future ones as well.